Ethan Hawke opens up about faith, 'value of organized religion' for Flannery O'Connor biopic

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Actor discusses his faith as 'Wildcat' is released

Ethan Hawke has a sit-down discussion about his faith and how it plays into his work in the arts after the film "Wildcat" debuted on Sept. 1. (Bishop Robert Barron via YouTube)

Award-winning actor Ethan Hawke and his daughter, actress Maya Hawke, had a religious experience while making their latest film.

The father-daughter duo spoke with Bishop Robert Barron of the Diocese of Winona-Rochester about their collaborative film "Wildcat," which examines the life of seminal Christian author Mary Flannery O'Connor.

"I came to her from an English teacher in high school. I think it was my sophomore year," Maya Hawke told Barron. "We started reading them and I really loved them, and they started wonderful debates among the students. Some people hated them, some people thought they were brilliant, some people thought we shouldn't read them."

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Ethan Hawke, left, and daughter Maya Hawke speak with Bishop Robert Barron of Word on Fire about their film "Wildcat," which explores the life of Catholic author Flannery O'Connor. (Word on Fire)

After becoming infatuated with the author's humility and search for meaning, Maya Hawke said she used a passage from O'Connor's work in her audition monologues for drama school.

O'Connor, born in Georgia in 1925, was known for blending her Catholic beliefs with Southern Gothic literary style — creating uncomfortable and challenging stories about faith and human depravity.

Despite seeing significant praise in her own lifetime, O'Connor struggled with self-doubts and feelings of inadequacy.

Her posthumously-published "Complete Stories" won the National Book Award for Fiction in 1972.

"The idea that someone I admired so much could hold so much self-doubt and self-hatred was really moving to me at the time and really important,' Maya Hawke said.

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Ethan Hawke told Bishop Robert Barron that "Wildcat" presented an opportunity for him to reconnect with his interest in the spiritual and organized religion he held as a young man. (Word on Fire)

The new film — named after one of O'Connor's short stories — stars Maya Hawke as the desperate author as she seeks to get her first story published. Her father wrote and directed the feature.

"Her search and her ability to put the search into art — that you then have to say, ‘OK, wait. I have had moments of grace. Did I respond right? Did I know how to incorporate [those moments]?’" Ethan Hawke said of O'Connor's Christian themes.

He continued, "And that's the great value of organized religion — to give us a net, to kind of guide us on what to do with these moments."

The film was originally conceived by Maya Hawke, who approached her industry veteran father to write and flesh out the script.

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"This is the first time I've ever been hired to make a film. My daughter fell in love with Flannery O'Connor, and she wanted to play Flannery O'Connor. She got on Zoom and offered me a job," her father said.

Ethan Hawke said that the film was a key opportunity to explore his own spirituality, something that he became depressed about as he turned 50.

"When I was a young man, I was extremely interested in religion and faith was very, very important to me. And it was everything I thought about and I felt like, ‘How did I get to 50 and never get past first base with my exploration of faith?’" he recalled. "And then the clouds moved away, and I realized that my dedication to the arts had become the manifestation of that faith and that I wasn't on first base."

He continued, "And so it was almost like a voice from the past, coming from the present-future, you know — Maya's passion for Flannery. I was like, 'Wow, interesting. What if I could revisit my 24-year-old self and where I was in my faith journey then with what I've learned about the arts in the last 25 years?'"

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Maya Hawke said she was first exposed to Flannery O'Connor's work when she was in high school. She later used a passage by the author for her audition to drama school. (Word on Fire)

The Hawkes emphasized the gritty and real nature of O'Connor's work as a key appeal, praising her decision to portray faith as a reality in a dark and often violent world.

"It's very complex, but at its simplest level — death. Why do we have to die? Like, [it's] one of the things we all think [about]. We all see death as a dark thing, and we see friends die or young people die," Ethan Hawke said. "We see this and it's so counterintuitive, but if we don't die, we don't live."

"Wildcat" debuted on Sept. 1 at the Telluride Film Festival. It is scheduled to screen at the Toronto International Film Festival on Sept. 11.

The full interview is being released by Barron's Word on Fire ministry on Thursday.