Ethan Hawke is happy that Leonardo DiCaprio, and not him, was cast as Jack Dawson in James Cameron’s 1997 blockbuster Titanic.
I don’t think I would have handled that success as well as Leo. He was a f—ing Beatle.
Hawke told British GQ in an interview published Monday
At that time, Hawke had already acted in movies like Dead Poets Society, Reality Bites, and Before Sunrise, but he feels he wasn’t ready to deal with everything that came with the role in the romantic drama, which starred Kate Winslet and was based on the real-life sinking of the Titanic in 1912.
Titanic went on to make over $2.2 billion worldwide, according to Box Office Mojo, and it launched DiCaprio into leading roles in big films like Catch Me If You Can, The Aviator, and Blood Diamond, the last two earning him Oscar nominations.
Meanwhile, Hawke worked on movies like Gattaca, where he starred with Uma Thurman, Great Expectations, and Hamlet. He only experienced the level of fame that disrupts a normal life when he started a relationship with Thurman while filming the sci-fi thriller.
It’s humiliating. It’s almost humiliating even when they’re saying positive things.
Hawke said of being in the tabloids
Hawke and Thurman got married in 1998, had their daughter Maya in July that year, and their son Levon in 2002. They divorced in 2005. Still, Hawke’s career didn’t slow down. He has continued appearing in successful films, and his work has earned him recognition in the industry, including four Oscar nominations.
He has also taken a positive view of not winning an Academy Award, even though he was nominated for Best Supporting Actor for the 2001 crime drama Training Day.
You don’t want an award to improve your status. You want to improve the award’s status.
He recalled that his costar, Denzel Washington, had whispered to him after he lost that night that it was better he had lost. Hawke said on Max’s Who’s Talking to Chris Wallace.
Source: EW