Ethan Hawke: Casting Actors Based on Instagram Followers Is ‘Crazy’ – Variety
By
Ellise Shafer
Ethan Hawke is weighing in on his daughter Maya’s comments about certain producers wanting to cast actors based on the amount of Instagram followers they have.
In an interview on the “Happy Sad Confused” podcast last week, Maya Hawke revealed that she knows several “smart directors” who have been told by producers that they must cast actors with a certain amount of Instagram followers in order for a project to move forward. “I don’t care about Instagram. Instagram sucks,” she said. “Right, well just so you know, if you have over this many followers you can get the movie funded. It’s a really confusing line to walk.”
When asked by press at Berlin Film Festival about his daughter’s remarks, Ethan Hawke said he’s encountered this phenomenon as well and it’s “crazy.”
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“I really feel for these people. It’s really hard,” he said. “Sometimes I’ll be setting a movie up and someone will say, ‘Oh, you should cast Suzie.’ I’m like, ‘Who is she?’ ‘She has 10 million followers.’ I’m like, ‘OK cool, has she acted before?’ ‘No, but…’ And you’re like, ‘Wow, so this is going to help me get the movie made? This is crazy.’”
Hawke continued, “So if I don’t have this public-facing [platform], I don’t have a career? And if I get more followers I might get that part? What?”
The Oscar-nominated actor, who is premiering “Blue Moon” — his latest collaboration with Richard Linklater — at the fest, went on to say that he meets “so many young actors that think being an actor is protein shakes and going to the gym.”
“I wish they could meet Phil Hoffman like I did when I was 18, because it’s a much more substantive and enjoyable life,” Hawke said. “I mean, go to the gym if you want to, but that doesn’t make you — Robert De Niro is not great because he has a six-pack. If the part calls for it, he’ll do it, and that’s awesome. But he’s so much more than that.”
Hawke said Maya, who has held roles in “Stranger Things” and Wes Anderson’s “Asteroid City,” has taught him a lot about social media and how it can play into the industry.
“She’s like, ‘Dad, you need an Instagram account… That was a terrible post Dad, get rid of it,’” he said with a laugh. “But she’s an artist, my daughter. You can’t stop her. She’s always creative: painting, singing, writing music, acting. I don’t worry about her, she’ll figure that out. But I learn a lot from her now.”
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