List of Ethan Hawke performances

American actor, film director and author Ethan Hawke made his debut in 1985 with the science fantasy film Explorers (1985). He then had his breakthrough performance in the 1989 drama film Dead Poets Society opposite Robin Williams. He starred in the 1990s films White Fang (1991) and its sequel (1994); Reality Bites with Winona Ryder (1994), Gattaca with Uma Thurman (1997), and Great Expectations with Gwyneth Paltrow (1998). He co-starred alongside Julie Delpy in Richard Linklater's Before trilogy: Before Sunrise (1995), Before Sunset (2004), and Before Midnight (2013). He and Delpy also co-wrote the screenplay with Linklater for the last two films.

During the 2000s, Hawke starred in numerous blockbuster films including Training Day opposite Denzel Washington (2001), Taking Lives with Angelina Jolie (2004), Lord of War with Nicolas Cage (2005), Before the Devil Knows You're Dead with Philip Seymour Hoffman (2007), and Brooklyn's Finest with Richard Gere (2009). He co-starred, wrote and directed the 2006 film The Hottest State, based on his 1996 novel of the same name. In 2012, Hawke starred in the supernatural horror film Sinister (2012) and the next year he starred in The Purge with Lena Headey, the first installment in The Purge franchise. He teamed up again with Linklater for the film Boyhood, which was released in 2014 but production began in 2002 and finished in 2013, with Linklater's goal to make a film about growing up. Hawke played Mason Evans Sr., the father to the main character. The following years, Hawke co-starred in the films Maggie's Plan (2015), Born to Be Blue (2015), The Magnificent Seven (2016), Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets (2017), Juliet, Naked (2018), The Black Phone (2021) and The Northman (2022).

Hawke created, co-wrote and starred as John Brown in the Showtime limited series The Good Lord Bird (2018), and directed the HBO Max documentary series The Last Movie Stars (2022). He starred in the Marvel television miniseries Moon Knight (2022) as Arthur Harrow.

In addition to his film work, Hawke has appeared in many theater productions, making his Broadway debut in 1992 in Anton Chekhov's The Seagull, and was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play in 2007 for his performance in Tom Stoppard's The Coast of Utopia. In 2010, Hawke directed Sam Shepard's A Lie of the Mind, for which he received a Drama Desk Award nomination for Outstanding Director of a Play. In 2018, he starred in the Roundabout Theater Company's revival of Sam Shepard's play True West alongside Paul Dano.