Ethan Hawke has enjoyed his fair share of Oscar nominations, most notably for roles in films like “Training Day” and “Boyhood.” This Sunday, the actor is in the running for best actor for his work in “Blue Moon.”
Though the acting nomination is his own, the production of the film itself was done in collaboration with his wife and creative partner, Ryan Shawhughes Hawke.
In a 2009 interview with The Guardian, Ethan Hawke described his wife as “an extremely sensible, no-bulls— woman,” and said “frankly I thought that might be good for a half-madman like me.”
He was previously married to the actor Uma Thurman, with whom he shares two children, Maya and Levon. Ethan Hawke and Thurman divorced in 2004.
She’s a TV and Film Producer
Ryan Hawke is the vice president of Under the Influence Productions, a production company founded by her husband.
There, she is responsible for writing, developing and producing works for television and film, among other mediums, according to FX Networks.
Most recently the pair worked on FX’s “The Lowdown,” and Ryan Hawke was also involved in the production of “Blue Moon.” They worked together on the miniseries “The Good Lord Bird,” which Ethan Hawke starred in.
The couple first worked together on “Seymour: An Introduction,” a documentary about pianist and composer Seymour Bernstein, according to a January interview with the Los Angeles Times.
“We’d been married for a little while and we really like working together,” Ethan Hawke said during a panel discussion at the Sundance Film Festival hosted by the Los Angeles Times in January. “And we think the same way, and Ryan has unbelievable literary taste.”
And a Philanthropist, Too
Outside of production, Ryan Hawke is on the board of trustees for Romanian educational nonprofit The Alex Fund.
She is also the chair of the board of directors for EngenderHealth, which advocates globally for sexual and reproductive health and gender equality.
Was She His Nanny? Allow Ethan Hawke to Explain
In a 2009 interview with The Guardian, Ethan Hawke laid out how he met his future wife.
Ethan Hawke said they were connected through his literary agent, and she later watched his children during a film shoot.
“After a short period of working for me, Ryan went back to Columbia to get her degree,” he said.
Ethan Hawke said they were not romantically involved at the time when they first met.
“In the years that followed, my marriage disintegrated due to many pressures, none of which were remotely connected to Ryan,” he said.
About a year later, they crossed paths in a park. Ryan Hawke eventually asked him on a date, he said in the same interview.
“So when she asked me out, I answered, ‘Yes,’” Hawke said. “I know people imagine some kind of ‘Sound Of Music’ type love affair, but the truth is by the time Ryan and I were falling in love, it had been a long while since I had employed her.”
The couple married in 2008, according to People.
Ethan and Ryan Hawke Had 2 Kids Together
In an interview with The Times in 2025, Hawke described his attitude following his divorce: “I was hellbent on not having any more kids and I wanted to be single for the rest of my life.”
Then, he met Ryan Hawke and things changed.
“But I made a best friend and I liked kissing her,” Hawke continued.
Today, the couple share two daughters. Their first daughter, Clementine, was born in 2008. Their second, Indiana, was born in 2011.
Ethan Hawke spoke about how his two older kids adjusted to their new siblings in a 2015 interview with The Times.
“I already had my kids from Uma and it was hard for them. Ryan was having our baby, and she was reading a book about step-parenting, and how difficult it can be, and that book was talking about rules,” Ethan Hawke said at the time. “People think that kids don’t like rules, but in fact they do, even if they’re just something to rebel against.”
Ryan Hawke, in the same interview, said of parenting, “I do think that the goal is to help the child feel comfortable and ready to succeed.”
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