The Stranger Things star Maya Hawke has said she is “comfortable with not deserving” the kind of life she has.
The American actor and singer, the daughter of Hollywood actors Ethan Hawke and Uma Thurman, said her relationship with them was “positive”, which “supersedes anything anyone can say about it”.
“Deserves is a complicated word,” she told the Times. “There are so many people who deserve to have this kind of life who don’t, but I think I’m comfortable with not deserving it and doing it anyway. And I know that my not doing it wouldn’t help anyone.
“I saw two paths when I was first starting and one of them was: change your name, get a nose job and go to open casting roles.”
Speaking about the path she chose, she added: “It’s OK to be made fun of when you’re in rarefied air. It’s a lucky place to be.
“My relationships with my parents are really honest and positive, and that supersedes anything anyone can say about it.”
The 25-year-old is best known for playing Robin in the Duffer brothers Netflix series Stranger Things, and her recent features include Wes Anderson’s Asteroid City (2023) and Do Revenge (2022).
Hawke has recently released her third album, Chaos Angel. Speaking about the moment she realised her gigs were filled with Stranger Things fans, she said: “I was almost depressed about it.
“Like, I’m glad there are people here, but I guess they don’t care about the music.”
She also reflected on the teasing she received from comments she made about being cast as Flowerchild, one of Charles Manson’s followers, in the Quentin Tarantino film Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood.
“I’ve been wildly made fun of for this clip when I said, on the red carpet, that I auditioned,” she said. “I never meant to imply that I didn’t get the part for nepotistic reasons – I think I totally did.”
Hawke, who voices Anxiety in the upcoming Pixar sequel Inside Out 2, starred opposite her mother in the 2023 thriller comedy film The Kill Room and was directed by her father in the drama Wildcat (2023).
