If you know the work of Ethan Hawke, and we mean beyond acting in movies—the novels he’s written, the stageplays he’s appeared in, the films he’s written and directed both dramas and documentaries—you know Hawke more as an ever-curious artist and adventurous one at that, omnivorous in his taste and hard to be pigeonholed.
READ MORE: Ethan Hawke: The Essential Performances
His latest project, “The Last Movie Stars,” is his second documentary project following 2014’s excellent, “Seymour: An Introduction,” only this time, rather than a doc feature, it’s an epic six-part documentary about movie stars and married couple Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward, their romance, married life, stardom, kids and juggling it all. Conceived and shot during the pandemic, Hawke took a creative approach to the film.
At one point in his life, Newman recorded hundreds of hours of interviews, with himself and his famous friends with the intention of writing some kind of memoir. Somewhere along the lines, Newman disavowed the project and destroyed all the tapes (!). However, thousands of pages of transcription of these interviews still existed, so Hawke enlisted many of his famous friends to play the parts: George Clooney reading for Newman, Laura Linney for Woodward, and many other friends like Melanie Griffith, Sam Rockwell, Billy Crudup, Sally Field, Zoe Kazan, Karen Allen, Steve Zahn, LaTanya Richardson Jackson, and Oscar Isaac.
Here’s the official synopsis:
The Last Movie Stars is an epic six-chapter documentary that chronicles Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward’s iconic careers and decades-long partnership. Director Ethan Hawke brings life and color to this definitive history of their dedication to their art, philanthropy and each other. Through long-lost transcriptions of interviews with Paul, Joanne and those close to them, brought to life by contemporary actors, we’re given an intimate front-row seat to the lives and careers of the couple that would go on to forge an unmatched cultural legacy.
A terrific bonus, Hamilton Leithauser, ex-singer of the Walkmen, did the music to the doc. “The Last Movie Stars” is a revelatory deep dive into the life of two iconic stars. Made in conjunction with CNN Films / HBO Max, “The Last Movie Stars” debuts on HBO Max on July 21. Watch the first trailer below.
