FRANKFURT - For Hollywood star Ethan Hawke,
writing novels is more rewarding than making movies even if
he does have to put up with some blunt literary criticism from
his wife Uma Thurman.
And, with a tinge of regret, he admits he may never fulfil
his ambition to work with cult director Quentin Tarantino. That
is very much his wife's role.
Hawke, at the Frankfurt Book Fair to publicise his novel
"Ash Wednesday," won't be giving up the day job just yet. He
garnered an Oscar nomination this year for his role as a rookie
cop in "Training Day" and his zest for acting has not dimmed.
But he does admit: "Writing is more satisfying to me at
this moment in my life because I have had to work much harder
for it.
"But writing feels so much scarier. Stepping off your
little terrain, it is frightening for me but much more
rewarding if some aspect of it goes well."
Hawke, who rose to fame in the Eighties in "Dead Poets
Society" and met his wife when they were filming "Gattaca"
together, used to show Thurman his book in progress but has
changed his mind now.
"I started to but she is too damn critical and then I would
get irritated with her and she would say 'If you don't want my
criticisms then don't show it to me' and I said 'Alright I
won't.'"
Thurman is currently making "Kill Bill" with Tarantino, the
director who says he has always looked on her as "my actress"
ever since they made "Pulp Fiction" together.
And that torpedoes Hawke's chances of ever working with
Tarantino. "I think he is so obsessed with my wife that I don't
think I ever will. That is the one great director I am going to
miss," he says with a philosophical shrug.
Deeply distrustful of celebrity status and disillusioned by
Hollywood, Hawke prefers life in New York with his wife and two
young children.
He appears uncomfortable with the ego-driven world of
Tinseltown. Becoming a father has given him a sense of
proportion.
And the writing this is his second book has proved to
be more than just an indulgence. "Ash Wednesday," the tale of a
commitment-phobe whose life is turned around when his
girlfriend becomes pregnant, has garnered good reviews and he
is already thinking about number three.
"What I enjoy about writing is the privacy, how you can
take your time, the peaceful nature of it as opposed to the
carnival act that is making a movie," he told reporters.
Hawke, renowned for his forthright liberal views on
politics, admits that in the current climate in the United
States he feels uncomfortable about speaking out.
"I just think it is a dangerous moment. It is such a
powerful country, such a strong country. We have to be careful
we don't become the largest terrorists in the world," he said.
"Why does it make me so nervous to talk about politics
right now? This whole idea of Zero Tolerance and 'If you are
not with us, you are against us' and if you are not excited
about going off and bombing lots of other people, you are
somehow condoning the terrorist acts that happened in this
country.
"There is no left voice in the country right now," he
concluded.