Ethan Hawke made fond reminiscences with Robert Redford earlier than the Oscar winner died earlier this week.
“He picked Earlier than Dawn to open the [Sundance Film] Competition, and he launched it,” Hawke, 54, solely instructed Us Weekly on the Wednesday, September 17, premiere of The Lowdown on the Brooklyn Academy of Music. “It was a giant second in [director] Richard Linklater and I's life simply to have Robert Redford take us beneath his wing and say, ‘I consider in you guys,' and to open the pageant with [our] film.”
He added, “We have been getting dangerous evaluations and stuff on the time. Redford was one of many first guys to get that film and to get what was attention-grabbing about it.”
Linklater, 65, wrote and directed 1995's Earlier than Dawn, which formally opened on the acclaimed Utah movie pageant as the start of his Earlier than trilogy. Hawke starred as Jesse reverse Julie Delpy's Céline.
“All people wished the director of Slacker to make Actuality Bites 2 — and that's not what he did. He did one thing else,” Hawke stated on Wednesday of Linklater's filmography. “Redford was like, ‘That's cool.' And we have been like, ‘Hey, Redford thinks we're cool. Perhaps we're cool?'”
Redford died on Tuesday, September 16, on the age of 89, and Hawke was one among many stars who publicly shared their condolences.
“Robert Redford, our final champion of unbiased movie, relentless advocate for genuine storytelling and fiercely passionate environmentalist,” Hawke wrote through Instagram. “Robert's legacy stays ingrained in our tradition, reworked by his artistry, activism and the founding of Sundance Institute and Movie Competition.”
Along with his prolonged listing of appearing credit, Redford's Sundance Institute partnered with the annual pageant starting in 1981.
“It was like a man standing outdoors a speakeasy or one thing. Individuals would say, ‘What are you doing right here?' And I'd say, ‘Nicely, there's a factor we're doing,'” Redford instructed The Hollywood Reporter in 2009. “It was about 5 years earlier than I even knew we'd succeed and keep alive.”
Robert Redford left behind a long-lasting legacy in Hollywood after his dying in September 2025. The actor and director shot to stardom in 1967, when he appeared alongside Jane Fonda within the Gene Saks-directed romantic comedy movie, Barefoot within the Park. From there, he took on now-famous roles in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Child, […]
Sundance screened Linklater's Slacker in 1991, and Earlier than Dawn adopted 4 years later.
“I used to be there in '91 with my first movie that anybody would care to look at, Slacker,” Linklater recalled to THR on the time. “Slacker performed within the competitors, which is outstanding. It was such a bizarre movie. It didn't win any awards or something, however it did assist the movie. It was only a good profile. I used to be all the time completely satisfied to point out at Sundance. I used to be not a Sundance one-and-done-er by any means. I used to be very completely satisfied to all the time return there.
As for Hawke, he'll subsequent star in FX's The Lowdown as Lee Raybon.
“Sterlin Harjo's Reservation Canine is the definition of quirky, bizarre, human, humorous and profound. When you'll be able to intersect these issues, it's magic,” Hawke, additionally an govt producer on the sequence, instructed Us of the Lowdown showrunner. “I simply wished to work with him, and now we're inside against the law style. It's a little bit simpler, really, while you're inside a style. Audiences love style. ‘What's the thriller? Who did it? Who's the legal? Who's going to get killed?' All these form of tropes that make watching the present enjoyable, however it's nonetheless filled with all his eccentricity and humanity.”
The Lowdown premieres on FX Tuesday, September 23, at 9 p.m. ET.
