Interview: ‘Blue Moon’ Star Ethan Hawke and Director Richard Linklater Chat About Their Wonderful New Film

Whenever Ethan Hawke and Richard Linklater get together, magic tends to happen. Whether it’s the Before Trilogy (Before Sunrise, Before Sunset, Before Midnight), Boyhood, or any of their other collaborations, they almost always bring out the best in each other. Now, with Blue Moon, Linklater has directed Hawke to one of the very best performances of his career. Likewise, Hawke has helped to make this one of Linklater’s most elegant movies. I’ve spoken to both multiple times over the years (including Linklater here for Apollo 10½: A Space Age Childhood), but never together. Recently, that changed as the duo met me on Zoom to discuss Blue Moon. With the flick hitting theaters this weekend, I’m delighted to bring our conversation to you all today.

Back at the Telluride Film Festival, I raved here about Hawke and Linklater like so:

Ethan Hawke is extraordinary here, inhabiting Lorenz Hart in all his glory and sadness. Getting to do some major monologuing, it’s an absolutely hypnotic performance. You never miss the sadness within him, but Hawke is also sure to allow all of his charm to shine through as well. It’s stunning work.

Richard Linklater directs a screenplay by Robert Kaplow with a keen eye towards performance. Linklater has achieved a wonderful visual effect completely practically in basically shrinking Hawke, though without ever calling attention to it. Kaplow’s script is verbose and Linklater lets the performances sink. In some ways, this is another of his hangout flicks, just in a time period he’s never tackled before. Blue Moon is clearly a project that meant a lot to Hawke and Linklater, with the results speaking for themselves.

Below, you can see my chat with Hawke and Linklater. We were talking sports before the recording began, so we’re mostly making fun of my beloved Jets and Mets. Back at Telluride, Linklater told me a story at a party about the process of getting Blue Moon made with Hawke, and I recount it to him, with amusing results. This is, much like a Hawke/Linklater collaboration, free form and very casual. If you’re a fan of either of these artists, you owe it to yourself to see this latest pairing. They’re both at the tops of their respective games, so you’re in for a real treat…

Here now is my interview with Blue Moon star Ethan Hawke and director Richard Linklater. Enjoy:

Blue Moon is in theaters this weekend!