Ethan Hawke on Doing His Own Stunts in Sundance Drama ‘The Weight’ and Advice to Maya Hawke After ‘Stranger Things’ Ends: ‘Time to Move on. Don’t Look Back’

Ethan Hawke might not be hanging from skyscrapers or clinging to a flying Airbus à la Tom Cruise in “Mission: Impossible” adventures, but he was game to do his own stunts in “The Weight,” a historical action-drama that’s premiering at the Sundance Film Festival.

In the Depression era movie, Hawke portrays a widower who is torn from his daughter and gets sent to a brutal work camp. So when the warden (Russell Crowe) tempts him with early release if he smuggles gold through a deadly wilderness, he goes to great lengths to complete the mission in order to see his child again. His brutal journey involved recklessly driving a car, throwing a fair share of punches and holding his breath underwater in a freezing river.

“Tom Cruise has totally changed what’s expected for actors. Some part of me is getting angry over the years because everyone somehow feels like they’re less if they use a stunt team,” Hawke said at Variety‘s Sundance Studio presented by Audible. “What I liked about our movie is there were no ridiculous stunts. It’s human. It’s not about things blowing up, so most of the stunts were things we could do. They weren’t superhero things.”

Director Padraic McKinley, reuniting with Hawke after the Western “The Good Lord Bird,” interrupted his star to say that Hawke was underselling his herculean efforts.

“Ethan is not saying that he did every single stunt, including driving those old cars with insane clutches,” McKinley said. “He did every single one, except one little wide shot after he almost tore his hamstring off the bone.”

At the core of the film is the bond between a father, who is willing to travel far and wide, and endure brutal conditions, to reunite with his daughter.

“It’s about love. That’s what makes the script timeless,” says Hawke, adding that his performance was influenced by his own experiences as a parent. “Some of the best action movies of all time are oriented about something real.”

At times, filmmaking has been a family affair for Hawke. He directed his daughter, Maya, in the 2023 indie “Wildcat,” a biographical drama about the author Flannery O’Connor. While Ethan remained behind the camera for that collaboration, he said he’d be eager to one day act alongside Maya.

“Heck yeah, are you kidding me?” Ethan said. “I want to be with the star of ‘Stranger Things’…”

Maya Hawke played Robin Buckley in the Netflix sensation “Stranger Things,” which recently wrapped its fifth and final season. Ethan offered some advice to his offspring now that the show has ended.

“Time to move on. You got to do it, and move on,” he said. “Don’t look back.”

Ethan Hawke, for his part, seems to be constantly moving forward. The 55-year-old actor appeared in several films — theater drama “Blue Moon” and horror sequel “Black Phone 2” among them — and two television shows — crime dramedy “The Lowdown” and historical drama “The American Revolution” — in 2025 alone. He just earned his fifth Oscar nomination, and his first in the lead actor category, for “Blue Moon.” Hawke said he has recently been wondering about his work ethic.

“Why can’t I sit still? Why do I work so much?” Hawke asked. “I love it. I am amazed when people do one movie every five years. I really like making movies. I started when I was young and fell madly in love with the process. You can’t do it alone. It has magic attached to it. Once you felt that feeling of making something bigger than yourself and you watch it connect with audiences, I chase it. I’m just chasing.”