Steven Prusakowski
I was already hooked on FX’s The Lowdown and didn’t think anything could make me appreciate it more. Then I talked to Ethan Hawke. In one conversation he made one of my favorite series on TV even better providing insight into the series and his character, Lee Raybon. Lee is the kind of complicated, big-hearted mess that, with a couple more seasons, is destined to end up on any all-time-greats list.
After speaking with Hawke on the TV Topics podcast, his insights into his craft, the state of television, his love of the series and his work resonated. What surprisingly stuck with me most was his unexpected perspective on his very first film, The Explorers. Though the movie left a lasting impact on me as a kid, it failed to find its audience and is considered a box office bomb. Many actors might have called it quits, but Hawke persevered. It makes me wonder if the film’s lack of success partly fueled Hawke’s relentless ambition, pushing the talented, risk-taking actor to new artistic heights.
(Listen to the full TV Topics conversation with Ethan Hawke below. Video at the bottom of the article.))
The film was Joe Dante’s sci-fi adventure comedy where a 14-year old Hawke starred alongside River Phoenix. 40 years later, the experience still in him. During our conversation on TV Topics, Hawke, now 55, reflected on that time in his life, sharing a raw, revealing story about the film’s aftermath on him. “In 1984, I made The Explorers and so in the year following that, was kind of difficult,” confessed Hawke. The Explorers lived as this isolated incident in my life. I had a really just average childhood growing up in middle-class suburban America. And I had this one like six months where it was like I won the lottery or something, and I got picked and I went into Hollywood and made a movie and then I came back. But the movie was a big bomb. And all my expectations of what it was going to be didn’t happen.”
The film’s failure had an emotional toll on Hawke, admitting, “It was very hard for me to… I loved Joe Dante so much. It was very hard for me not to feel like that was my fault. That this kind of childhood dream of being an actor wasn’t going to happen. And I had to find something else to do, which is very common. A lot of kids that want to be actors and then it doesn’t work out and they have to find something. That’s very common. And I wanted to be ready for that. And so 1985, I was 15 thinking that I’d proven myself a loser at acting.” Yet, Hawke sees value in that early setback as displayed when asked he would say to the younger version of himself. “I don’t know what I’d say to that kid. It’s not like I would say don’t feel those feelings. Those are very helpful to me. Everything I learned in that experience was really, really helpful and prepared me to keep my balance through this really, really strange profession. I learned really early on what to take seriously and what not to take seriously.”
This origin story sets the stage for Hawke’s evolution as an artist, one defined by resilience and a drive to explore the human condition in all its messiness. His career trajectory echoes the scrappy, truth-seeking spirit of Lee Raybon, the bookstore owner and amateur journalist he plays in FX’s The Lowdown. The series is his second collaboration with Sterlin Harjo (creator of the incredible Reservation Dogs) and is a vibrant neo-noir dramedy – one of the best series of 2025. Like Hawke himself, Lee stumbles through life’s blows but keeps getting up, fueled by heart and a moral compass that points toward authenticity.
Hawke’s early relationship with television, shaped by a mother who prioritized books over TV screens, mirrors this theme of finding one’s path amid restrictions. Growing up with a tiny black-and-white set, “about the size of our computer,” as he put it, he watched classics like Star Trek, Twilight Zone, and old Westerns on Sundays when his parents were out. “I was a fanatic of Star Trek, Twilight Zone, all the old television westerns,” he recalled. “My parents would be gone on Sunday, and I could watch on Sunday. They would do all the reruns, and so I could just space out and watch a ton of television on Sundays.” Sneaking episodes of MASH* after school became his equivalent of binge-watching before streaming existed. His almost rebellious consumption of TV laid the groundwork for his appreciation of storytelling’s power, influencing how he approaches roles.
TV viewing also shaped Ethan Hawke’s portrayal of Lee Raybon, with The Rockford Files and Columbo as key influences. Hawke cherished these shows’ subtle humor. “There’s a little bit of Rockford Files in Lee Raybon. I love that show. It made me laugh. I was never one for balls-out comedies, you know, things that are overtly funny or are trying to make me laugh. I, for some reason, resist. That’s not my happy place.”
In The Lowdown, Hawke delivers what might be his most entertaining performance yet as Lee Raybon, a “hot mess” tumbling through Tulsa’s underbelly in pursuit of justice – often having to roll with the punches, crowbars and gunshots as he does. His performance has its share of hilarious moments, but it feels organic, never forced. The series, much like Harjo’s Reservation Dogs, builds a community tapestry comprised of the colorful, textured threads of humanity, and Lee Raybon is the vibrant strand who weaves heart, and humor into the fabric of the story.
“My mom texted me the other night. I don’t understand why you love this character so much. He’s doing everything wrong. He’s driving me crazy. And I think that’s part of what I love about him. He’s irascible. We live in a time period where everybody wants something to be left or right or this or that or good or bad or the anti-hero or ironic. And Lee Raybon is just all heart. And he’s just made wrong and off balance. But he’s got a compass I really like. And he makes a lot of mistakes that feel like mistakes I can relate to.”
Hawke’s collaboration with Harjo stemmed from their work on Reservation Dogs during its final season. The episode, “Elora’s Dad” which had Hawke sharing the screen with the wonderful Devery Jacobs (also a TV Topics guest) was his only episode on the series but it left a huge impact on me – beautiful television. I am not alone, clearly left an imprint on Hawke.
“Sterlin Harjo has affected me. This whole thing is kind of born out of a young friendship that we had. I really like him,” shared Hawke. “Tulsa, I moved down there and my kids went to school there. This job is a part of our life now. It’s not just a job. It’s like my daughter’s college essay is about her time in Tulsa. It’s become a part of us. And so, yeah, it’s changed me.”
“Also, making a comedy about serious subjects is something that really turns me on. The question of truth in journalism is a very serious question right now. And the show attacks it in a really unpretentious way. It doesn’t have any answers. The way that Tulsa invites such a diverse view of America without being about diversity or something cute or PC like that, it’s part of the story of Tulsa. It’s the real story. And so, these amazing characters that I get to act with and the people that are working on the show, that all definitely has changed me.”
A series’ highlight comes in the unexpected pairing of Hawke with longtime friend Peter Dinklage for a road trip that dives into the pair’s deep friendship. Hawke described the ease of working with Dinklage, “It’s like taking a test when you’ve been given all the answers. It’s so easy. To get to play old best friends for Peter and I, I met him in 1991, probably like our characters would have. I’ve argued with him about Beckett till four in the morning. I’ve been stupid with him. I’ve been on walks in the country. I’ve played with our kids and dogs and we’ve been idealistic together and we’ve disappointed each other and we’ve survived. And so to have him, this guy I’ve known forever, show up on set to play my old best friend. And we’ve even lost friends. So when we’re talking about Jesus, all that stuff, we know all this. And so the acting can kind of have a subconscious to it.”
“One of the things I love about the Dinklage episode is that, A, obviously Peter, but also that Sterlin has the guts to pump the brakes and the plot right in the middle of the series and take you down a digression that might seem like it’s not related, but it’s actually kind of the point of the whole show. The show is a lot of, particularly Lee, is searching for an authentic definition of masculinity, of how to be a good man. What is the definition of courage? And male friendship is a part of that.”
Television’s larger canvas allowed Hawke to explore the many facets Lee Raybon possesses. This “multidimensionality” thrilled him. “What I’m enjoying about playing Lee is seeing somebody with their daughter (played with endless soulful charm by Ryan Kiera Armstrong) versus how they are when they’re trying to be romantic, how they are at work, when they are passionate about their views, and when they’re just stupid hanging out with their friends. And where a person isn’t one thing, that a person is, as Whitman would say, contains multitudes. I find that really thrilling to get to use all of myself to play this guy.”
Hawke’s growth shines equally in his ongoing partnership with Richard Linklater, a collaboration spanning three decades. This year brought Blue Moon, where Hawke plays Lorenz Hart in a lyrical exploration of the Rodgers and Hart duo. “I’m 55 years old and I just had one of the best years acting of my life. It’s taken me by complete surprise. Lee is one of my favorite characters I’ve ever played. And I played it in the same year that I got to work with Richard Linklater again for the first time in 10 years and play one of the most difficult parts I’ve ever played. Whereas Blue Moon was just the biggest challenge of my life, but to have them both in the same year was really thrilling.”
Approaching Blue Moon like a song, Hawke focused on delivering dialogue as lyrics. “I had to see the movie like it was a Rogers and Hart song and like Rogers does the music and Hart does the lyrics. And so in a lot of ways, I just let Rick worry about the musculature and the making of the film. And my job was to just kind of deliver this dialogue, like it was lyrics to a great song. In the end, the whole movie might feel like a classic Rogers and Hart tune, a wistful melancholy, bittersweet, funny, heartbreaking. And then it starts not being like dialogue. It’s just, you kind of come into the set every day and you’re singing the song.”
The bond between Hawke and Linklater prosper through a true shared creativity. “I think that part of why we keep working together is how much fun we have in this space between the movies,” explained Hawke. “Dreaming up the movies, thinking about. We talked about making Blue Moon for 10 years before we made it. What’s nice, unlike Rogers and Hart, who had only worked with each other, Rick and I, we get to go and come back again. I feel like I’ve been in a 30 year conversation with Rick mostly about movies and sometimes the conversation spits off a film.”
In some ways, Hawke’s path parallels Lee Raybon’s, both are one journey of resilience, authentic, driven by heart, and an artist’s drive to find truth in storytelling. The tenacious artist weathered early challenges to deliver knockouts like Gattaca, the Before trilogy, Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead, First Reformed, and now The Lowdown and Blue Moon. Somewhere along the way he also found a way to scare us in The Black Phone films. Now let’s give fans what we demand, a return trip to Tulsa for more seasons of The Lowdown, where Hawke’s artistry can continue to shine.
Be sure to stream The Lowdown on Hulu and catch Hawke in Blue Moon.
And for a much deeper dive into Hawke’s work and the TV he loves, including a good amount of Game of Thrones talk, listen to the full episode of TV Topics below.
Give it s a listen and all 36 episodes conversations with your favorite celebs.
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