Ethan Hawke and Uma Thurman were one serious power couple.
Starring in some of the most iconic Hollywood films of all time, the duo arguably defined
both the 90s and early 2000s.
So, when they announced their separation, a collective gasp could be heard from LA and
beyond.
Today, we’re looking into the love, the heartbreak, and all that unfolded.
Uma Thurman and Ethan Hawke were Hollywood royalty when they married in 1998.
The two mega-stars met on the set of the 1997 sci-fi film Gattaca and immediately started
dating.
Both stars had career-defining roles in 1994 — long before they met.
Hawke, who would go on to land an Oscar nomination for Training Day, perfectly played the quintessential
90s guy in the cult hit Reality Bites.
And Thurman became a household name after her Academy Award-nominated turn as Mia Wallace
in the smash film Pulp Fiction.
Also, just look at these outfits — how can we not love them for subjecting themselves
to such bold early 2000s?
Shortly after tying the knot, the lovebirds welcomed a daughter, Maya, into the world.
Four years later, they had a son, Levon.
The Hollywood stars were red carpet slayers for five years.
Everything seemed to be going well for the couple.
Then, suddenly, Thurman filed for divorce.
It was the split heard ’round Hollywood and caught everyone by surprise.
So much has been speculated about the reasons that led one of Hollywood’s power couples
to go their separate ways.
At the time, it was widely alleged that Hawke cheated with the nanny he and Thurman employed
to care for their children.
The actor denied the allegations.
And in a later interview with The Guardian, Ethan insisted his “marriage disintegrated
due to many pressures”.
Hawke even likened his situation to The Sound of Music, the 1965 film where Captain von
Trapp falls in love with his children’s governess.
“I know people imagine some kind of Sound Of Music type love affair, but the truth is
by the time Ryan and I were falling in love, it had been a long while since I had employed
her.”
Parting with Thurman after seven years and two children was really tough for the actor.
In another interview, Ethan — who was 27 when he married Uma — said he shouldn’t
have been married in the first place, as he was too immature to make such a decision.
According to the actor, success, when you’re young, is overwhelming.
The world felt out of control.
“I wanted to stop it from spinning so fast.
I thought marriage would decrease my variables or something.
I was absolutely wrong,” he said later on.
“There was this discovery that the male brain isn’t done until 28.
I definitely think my frontal lobe was not finished.”
Hawke added that he had no business taking vows that would last more than two weeks.
Just before their split, the actor was filming a movie in Canada, where he allegedly had
a fling with a Montreal model.
The actor denied the allegations and said that apart from being immature, stardom was
ultimately to blame for his split from Thurman.
“Uma and I did not split up over anybody’s infidelity.
We had a lot of problems before I ever went up to Montreal,” he said.
They tried to make it work.
One person works, the other person doesn’t.
But then somebody’s always out of town.
And when they all went away together, the situation wasn’t better.
One of them would be living in a hotel room taking care of kids while the other’s off
on a film set six hours a day doing what they love.
“It is very difficult for any couple who are married if both people are very ambitious...
And our love got beaten up.”
After separating in 2003 and divorcing in 2005, both actors spent a fair amount of time
reflecting on their marriage and why it failed.
Months after it was finalised, Thurman sat for an interview with Oprah Winfrey, during
which she got emotional when asked about her marriage breakdown amid cheating rumours.
She said that the public divorce process had been “excruciating” for her.
However, she also said that she has been able to move on, little by little, one step at
a time.
This was Thurman’s second divorce.
She was previously married to actor Gary Oldman from 1990 to 1992.
Uma went on to say that while she and Ethan put their children first, it was hard to maintain
their relationship when they were both so busy with work.
According to the actor, there wasn’t just one thing that led to the split, and she didn’t
want to blame her ex for the divorce.
“It’s extremely hard, and it’s hard on the whole family,” the actor told Winfrey.
“Our marriage failed.
I should take full responsibility for the failure of my own marriage.
Blaming anybody doesn’t make you feel any better.”
The former couple’s priority was protecting their children and making sure they came out
OK from the divorce.
In later interviews, Hawke would admit that his “life fell apart” after the divorce,
and he fell into a depression.
According to the actor, when you’re depressed, it’s easy to see everything fake about other
people and life.
And he just started seeing all that — how phoney celebrity is, how phoney everything
is.
“You channel your inner Holden Caulfield, you know?”
However, Ethan also revealed what helped him persevere: “My kids,” he said.
“They just need you every day.
It gives your life balance.
Meaning, your whole life isn’t just about yourself.”
He also credited his work with helping him put his life “back together.”
The actor recalled working on Before Sunset amid their fallout.
“Getting to spend that summer with Julie Delpy and Richard Linklater, reconnecting
with a part of myself that was more... what’s the right word?
Idealised.
A cleaner self,” Hawke said.
“That was a great summer.”
What is certain is that both actors went through a challenging process.
And once the divorce was finalised, Hawke started dating the former nanny, who now goes
by the name of Ryan Hawke (Spoiler!).
By January 2008, his rep confirmed the couple were “thrilled” to be expecting their
first child together.
And in July that same year, they were secretly married.
Since going public with their relationship more than ten years ago, the pair have kept
a relatively low profile in Brooklyn, New York, where they live with their two daughters.
Speaking to The Guardian in 2012, the Good Lord Bird star said he was settling into fatherhood
easier the second time around.
“I’m really the right age now.
I like being home.
When Maya was born, I was 27.
It was three years after Reality Bites came out.
I look at pictures of myself and wonder: ‘What was I thinking?’”
When he was younger, the actor believed he would get things, and then it would all be
easy.
“You’d be able to walk whatever road you wanted, and then sadly, you would start having
arthritis, but by then, you’d have kids, and everything would be fine.”
He didn’t really understand what windy road adulthood is.
Thurman was previously engaged to French financier Arpad Busson, with whom she shares a daughter,
Luna.
In January 2017, Thurman and Busson began child custody negotiations concerning their
daughter, which resulted in Thurman receiving primary physical custody later that month.
While Hawke and Thurman have spoken about how difficult their divorce was, they’ve
both praised their children’s success.
Both kids have followed in their footsteps and show they have the talent to spare.
Maya began her career on the hit series Stranger Things, starring alongside her dad’s former
Reality Bites co-star Winona Ryder . She’s also worked with her mom’s friend, Quentin
Tarantino, in Once Upon A Time ... In Hollywood.
Their son, Levon, is also an aspiring actor, following in his older sister’s footsteps
— literally.
He is currently filming for the same series.
Reflecting on his daughter’s career, Hawke said, “It’s one of the great honours of
my life.
It’s shocking.
And it keeps my life interesting and exciting to try to be the person that she wants me
to be.”
When she was a kid, Maya says her mom and dad wanted to be seen as parents and as people
rather than Hollywood stars.
“It wasn’t like, let’s go to this premiere.
And I think the same is true now,” she says.
The young actor believes her parents still value her personal accomplishments over her
career.
“My parents are proud of me because of the way I treat my friends.
My parents are proud of me because I travel alone a lot and haven’t died,” the Mainstream
star says.
Last year, the father-daughter duo even had an opportunity to appear in a TV show together.
The two did an episode of Showtime’s The Good Lord Bird, a collaboration Maya says
“we’ve been thinking about forever.”
The former model understands and is very grateful that her parents’ names gave her a hand
in getting started in show business.
“I think I’ll get a couple of chances, and then if I suck, I’ll get kicked out
of the kingdom.
And that’s what should happen.
So, I’m just going to try not to suck,” Maya says.
Hawke himself, professionally, saw a string of successes after his and Thurman’s split.
Interestingly enough, three of the actor and sometimes screenwriter’s four Oscar nominations
came in the years following his divorce.
In 2021, he was nominated for his role as the abolitionist John Brown in The Good Lord
Bird.
And recently, Uma has made an impact in Netflix’s chilling new horror series, Chambers.
Of course, the veteran Hollywood star has been a household name for more than three
decades now.
And that’s all we have for you today!
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