Directed by Aisling Walsh, Maudie tells the story of folk artist Maud Lewis (played with both heartbreaking and heartwarming beauty by Sally Hawkins) and the unlikely romance between Maud and hardened reclusive bachelor Everett Lewis (Ethan Hawke). With hands crippled from arthritis, Maud’s desire for independence led her to Everett’s doorstep, and even though he’s initially hesitant to hire her to help take care of his house, she soon finds herself going from painting doodles on the walls to working on canvas, and the partnership that the two develop helps turn her into a famous folk artist.
During the film’s press day, actor Ethan Hawke spoke to Collider for this 1-on-1 interview about why he wanted to get involved with the film, how people are magical even in dire situations, what Everett’s life might have been like without Maud, and why he’s finding more freedom in character acting. He also talked about co-writing and directing Blaze, about the life of country western musician Blaze Foley, doing a comedy adapted from a Nick Hornby novel, why he’d like to do a comedy with Will Ferrell, and playing a pimp for Luc Besson in Valerian.
Collider: The real-life story of these people is just so incredible that it almost seems like it can’t be true.
ETHAN HAWKE: Yeah, but people are kind of magical, even in dire situations. I can’t think of a better word than magical when it comes to Maud Lewis and the transformative power of art through her. Her ability to take an astonishingly depressing situation and make it beautiful is really cool. There’s something magical about it.
When you read this script, what was it about this story and this character that made you want to be a part of it? Did you sense that magic when you read it?
HAWKE: There’s a level of excellence to Sally Hawkins work that really inspires me. I really like to watch her act. So, when I saw this script and that she was attached to play this part, I read it imagining her and saw an opportunity for her to do something really great. I thought she could do something with this role that would be worth watching. That’s really what I felt. I am also lucky because I’ve been traveling to Nova Scotia for the last 15 years of my life. I love it up there. I have a place up there, so I know men like Everett. I read it and I could hear his voice and I knew where he lived. I could picture it all. That’s what it takes for me to have half a chance at playing a character. That’s where it generated for me.
Had you ever heard of Maud Lewis or seen any of her artwork before?
HAWKE: No. I met Aisling Walsh, the director, and I’d seen one of her movies. She did this movie about Dylan Thomas (A Poet in New York) that was amazing, and the performances in that movie were off the hook. So, I was really inclined to like her, and she brought in a bunch of books of Maud’s work. I’d seen images online, but I hadn’t really thought much about it. And I didn’t know about it before. Funnily enough, I should have known about it. People had told me about the house that’s at the Halifax Museum, but I never went and saw it. When you do see it, it’s clearly her master work. It’s an incredible thing, the little house she lived in. It’s layers upon layers of flowers, squirrels, birds and fairies. It’s truly a sight to behold. It lets you know what we’re capable of. She changed that house. But, I didn’t know her work until I started working with the movie.
Maud and Everett were two loners and outsiders who found each other. What do you think it was that drew them together, and how different do you think Everett’s life would have been, if Maud hadn’t knocked on his door?
HAWKE: His life would have been a really lonely one. I think what drew them together was mutual need, a powerful loneliness on both of their parts, and a lack of options. They did the hard work that a relationship needs because they didn’t have any options.
Did you get any rehearsal time for this, so that you could work on this relationship together?
HAWKE: Sally, Aisling and I met in London months before, and we were all on the same page about it. We were supposed to have this very intense rehearsal period, but I had been doing another movie that kept getting pushed and I got delayed, which went into our rehearsal time. By the time I got there, right before we started shooting, Sally was already deep into character, deep into this movie, and deep into the world. It was really inspiring to arrive to set and see her. She was working on what juvenile arthritis is like, she was working on the accent for the period, and she was working on painting and getting that right. The whole world was so beautifully drawn. It was pretty nice to disappear into this. It was very lonely out there, where we were shooting, and there was really nothing else to think about than Maud and Everett. So, Sally and I gave into it, worked on our script, and tried to make each scene as good as possible. We tried to cut as many lines as we could because we wanted the movie to be as non-verbally expressive as possible. It was really exciting because it’s rare that you get an opportunity where the movie is really all about the people. So often, I’m asked to pay people that are in service of a plot. This movie is just about the people and their relationship.
Were there any challenges specific to playing Everett?
HAWKE: The last five or so years of my life, as an actor, I’ve been really pushing myself towards more character work, whether it’s this, or Chet Baker, or The Magnificent Seven. I’m just trying to deepen my own relationship with what I do and explore a different kind of acting, in that way. I’ve been enjoying that.
What prompted that shift for you?
HAWKE: That’s a longer conversation that probably wouldn’t interest anybody, but it started when I worked with Philip Seymour Hoffman. He and I arrived in New York together, when we were young. Watching him, he played a lot of supporting parts and learned a lot by playing the supporting parts. I was cast in leads from a young age, and I learned from him the value and freedom in character acting and what it can do for you. That planted a seed in me that’s been percolating for the last ten years.
You also co-wrote and directed a movie called Blaze, which sounds like a real labor of love. What interested you in the life of country western musician Blaze Foley, and what made you want to write and make that film?
HAWKE: I don’t know. I can’t wait to show it to you. That’s a complicated question with many answers. That’s super personal to me, that movie. I’m editing it right now. My relationship with music is one of the happiest relationships in my life. I love it so much. I had a lot of fun playing Chet Baker. That was a powerful experience, playing that role. I got really interested in musical movies, and I wanted to direct one. Blaze Foley is a peripheral figure around the country western outlaw music that was happening then, when I was a kid, so it was really interesting to me. Willie [Nelson], Merle Haggard, Townes Van Zandt, and all those figures in that time period, are really interesting to me. This movie is a full blown country western opera. That’s what it is.
Do you know what’s next for you? Are you going to be starting another acting project soon?
HAWKE: I’m going to finish editing this movie, and then I’m going to go on vacation. And then, I’m going to do the first comedy I’ve done in awhile. It’s a movie based on a Nick Hornby novel, called Juliet, Naked, with Rose Byrne. I’m shooting that this summer in London.
What was the appeal of that?
HAWKE: I like Nick Hornby books and the script is just really funny.
Had you been looking to do some comedy again?
HAWKE: I want to be in a movie with Will Ferrell, really badly. I want to be in Talladega Nights 3, or whatever. The thing that would make me most happy is an email saying, “Will Ferrell is offering you to star opposite him.” I’d be like, “Fuck, yeah!” I’m putting it into your ear and out into the universe, so that maybe it will come back to me.
Why Will Ferrell?
HAWKE: I don’t know. He makes me laugh.
Did you really play a character named Jolly the Pimp in Valerian?
HAWKE: Yeah. I have a cameo in Valerian, and it was a lot of fun. I’m also Rihanna’s pimp. That’s pretty awesome!
What was it like to work with Luc Besson?
HAWKE: What it did was really let me know that I’m not a master of my own profession. It was really exciting to be on set with somebody who’s a master craftsman. I’ve been acting for 30-something years, and I was really, really blown away. I would like to work with him again. That guy is really different and really interesting. He works on a really big canvas. A lot of my favorite directors tend to work on small canvases. It takes a special kind of person to work on a big canvas like that and still be as artistic as he is. It’s really awesome!
You’ve been in such a wide variety of movies, across so many different genres, and you’ve been in some real favorites for people. Is there anything that people mention to you most often, or is it all over the place, when you run into fans?
HAWKE: Most people loved Training Day. Last night, I was walking home around midnight and a bike messenger freaked out because he loved Predestination so much. I’ve now made enough movies that I’m sure I’ve made one you like. I love all kinds of movies, whether it’s art movies, horror movies, sci-fi, westerns, or whatever it is, and I like working in different genres.
Maudie is now playing in limited release, and opens nationwide in the coming weeks.
