Paul Newman’s career is still celebrated with his spectacular glory. The actor has appeared in many movies, including Cool Hand Luke and The Hustler, in his decades-spanning career.
Ethan Hawke, perhaps the biggest fan of Newman, has revealed splendid details about the late actor. The Before Trilogy star sat on the director’s chair on several occasions. His reflection on Newman and his wife Joanne Woodward in The Last Movie Stars revealed why Newman hated doing blockbuster movies.
Paul Newman Hated Doing Blockbuster Movies
In his career spanning decades and working in movies across genres, Paul Newman still chose to do movies he hated doing. In particular, Ethan Hawke, who worships Newman as his hero, believes the legendary actor hated doing John Guillermin’s The Towering Inferno.
Notably, the movie is also famous for Newman’s ugly rivalry with his co-star Steve McQueen, and it was pretty bad as they fought on many occasions while filming the movie. But speaking of his hero, this is what Hawke told Insider via a Zoom call:
“Do I think he admired blockbusters and superhero movies? No, I don’t. He hated doing ‘Towering Inferno.’ That was his idea of a giant sellout. You see him in physical pain in that movie.”
But being an actor, one may go against their will to appear in a movie they don’t like but “it’s still a job,” Hawke said, adding “You still have to put food on the table.” The Towering Inferno, despite Newman’s dislike, proved to be one of the celebrated disaster action movies of all time. It was the highest-grossing movie of 1974 earning a whopping $203.3 million while having eight Academy Awards, winning three.
Ethan Hawke Justified His Moon Knight Role
Hawke vividly recalled the time when he was offered the role of villainous Arthur Harrow in MCU’s Moon Knight. The series that marked his MCU debut has put him in a tough spot. “I was trying to decide whether to do that or not,” Hawke told Insider. “And my youngest, Indiana, who was 10 at the time, said, ‘Well, Dad, what would Paul do?'” he added.
“I am an actor. That is how I pay my kids’ medical bills, that’s how I put a roof over our heads. And my job is not to change the world and make it the perfect place. My job is to do good work to the best of my ability. So we all decided, ‘I think you should do it.’ And I’m glad I did.”
His portrayal of Arthur Harrow was well-received by critics but his decision to appear in the show had a direct influence from Newman and his family. “We all had this talk: Well, what would he do?” the 52-year-old referred to Newman. Like he chose to do The Towering Inferno, Hawke made his splendid MCU debut in the acclaimed series.
