Ethan Hawke may not be dangling from skyscrapers or clinging to a flying Airbus like Tom Cruise in his Mission: Impossible adventures, but he’s no stranger to performing his own stunts in the historical action drama The Weight, which will premiere at Sundance.
In the Depression-era film, Hawke plays a widow who is separated from her daughter and sent to a harsh labor camp. There, when the warden (Russell Crowe) seduces him into early release if he smuggles the gold through the treacherous wilderness, he goes to great lengths to complete the mission in order to reunite him with his child. His grueling journey included driving recklessly, taking quite a few punches, and holding his breath underwater in a freezing river.
“Tom Cruise completely changed what was expected of an actor. Somewhere deep inside of me, I’ve had a long-standing anger because using a stunt team makes everyone feel like they’re somehow inferior,” Hawke said at Variety’s Sundance Studio, presented by Audible. “What I liked about our movie was that we didn’t have any crazy stunts. It was human. It wasn’t a movie where things were exploding, so most of the stunts were things we could do. It wasn’t a superhero thing.”
Director Padrick McKinley, who reunited with Hawke after making the western “The Good Lord Bird,” interrupted his lead, saying he underestimated Hawke’s superhuman efforts.
“Ethan didn’t say he did any stunts, like driving an old car with an insane clutch,” McKinley said. “He made every shot except for one shot that was a little wide after almost tearing his hamstring from the bone.”
At the heart of the film is the bond between a father who is willing to travel far and endure harsh conditions to reunite with his daughter.
“This is a story about love, and that’s what makes this script timeless,” Hawke said, adding that his performance was influenced by his own experiences as a parent. “Some of the best action movies of all time tend to be realistic.”
For Hawke, filmmaking was sometimes a family affair. He directed his daughter Maya in the 2023 indie film Wildcat, a biographical drama about author Flannery O’Connor. Ethan remained behind the camera for that collaboration, but said he aspires to work with Maya someday.
“Oh, are you kidding me?” Ethan said. “I want to be with the ‘Stranger Things’ star…”
Maya Hawke played Robin Buckley on the Netflix sensation Stranger Things, which recently concluded its fifth and final season. Ethan offered some advice to his descendants now that the show has ended.
“It’s time to move on. We’ve got to do it and move on,” he said. “Don’t look back.”
Ethan Hawke always seems to be moving forward. In 2025 alone, the 55-year-old actor appeared in several films, including the theatrical drama “Blue Moon” and the horror sequel “Black Phone 2,” and appeared in two TV shows, the crime drama “The Lowdown” and the historical drama “American Revolution.” He just earned his fifth Oscar nomination, and his first in the Best Actor category, for “Blue Moon.” Hawk said he has been questioning his work ethic lately.
“Why can’t I sit still? Why do I work so much?” Hawk asked. “I love it. I’m amazed that people make one movie every five years. I really love making movies. I started at a young age and fell in love with the process. You can’t do it alone. There’s a magic to it. When you feel that sense of making something bigger than yourself and see it connect with an audience, I chase it. I’m just chasing it.”
