Entertainment

Ethan Hawke reveals he stripped off with Willem Dafoe for new role

The pair star in The Northman.
The pair star in The Northman. The pair star in The Northman.

Ethan Hawke has revealed he stripped off and howled at the moon with fellow actor Willem Dafoe for an upcoming film.

Hawke, 51, gained recognition in 1994 film Reality Bites before going on to star in the Before trilogy: Before Sunrise, Before Sunset and Before Midnight.

Speaking to GQ Hype, he revealed that during filming of The Northman, which is out next month, he undressed with co-star Dafoe, 66, and howled at the moon.

He said: “We have one amazing scene. We get naked and do some kind of Viking acid and howl at the moon together.

“And oh my god, if you have to be naked and howl at the moon, he’s a great person to do it with.”

The film is set in Iceland at the turn of the 10th century and follows a Nordic prince who seeks revenge for the death of his father.

Hawke also spoke about his fear of streaming and said he remains concerned about the future of entertainment.

Willem Dafoe
Willem Dafoe Willem Dafoe (David Parry/PA)

He told GQ Hype: “I get scared when things get less director-driven. I’m scared of streaming, I can’t stand the word content.

“It starts to make me feel like we’re devising a world like Wall-E where people drink smoothies and just press play. I don’t want to be a part of that.”

Hawke recently branched out into the Marvel Universe after starring in upcoming mini-series Moon Knight.

The involvement of Oscar Isaac and Mohamed Diab made Hawke feel as though it was “meant to be” and encouraged Hawke to take on the role of religious zealot and cult leader Arthur Harrow.

Hawke also said he hoped to bring some of his own artistic influence to the project.

“Oscar (Isaac) and I come from a kind of similar school of thought about this. Put simply, we’re both aspiring to be old-school New York actors.

“Oscar really likes to rehearse. And he really likes to think about things. We’re more like carpenters about it,” he said.

Hawke convinced producer Kevin Feige to allow him to take a more traditional rehearsal and read-through approach to the process, adding: “I know that Oscar and I feel better about that. We worked harder on it. And we were able to do more of what we wanted to do.”

The full interview with Ethan Hawke is available online at GQ Hype now.