Ethan Hawke has been one quite a run of success recently, including appearances in Marvel’s Moon Knight, the horror thriller The Black Phone and the upcoming Raymond and Ray, in which he stars with Ewan McGregor. While promoting the new Apple movie, Hawke reminisced about the time his new co-star “stole” a role from him; the lead in Baz Luhrmann’s Moulin Rouge!, for which Hawke says he gave the audition of his life.

Ethan Hawke and Ewan McGregor star as two estranged half-brothers in Raymond and Ray, a movie by Rodrigo Garcia that has already been receiving high praise from its premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival, which took place recently prior to the film’s debut on Apple TV+ in October. While the pair are not competing with each other for top billing this time around, Hawke was quick to recall how when they did go head to head to play the lead in Moulin Rouge!, even his best audition wasn’t enough to beat McGregor. He told Screen Rant:

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“Ewan doesn’t like this because he gets embarrassed, but I gave one of the greatest screen tests of my life for Moulin Rouge. I did not get the part. I crushed this audition. And it just goes to show you how much I like Ewan’s work. I still went to see the movie on opening day and loved it. So, I got over it. But I will say, someday that audition will be seen and people are gonna rethink. [Laughs]”

Ethan Hawke Has Been Taking On Multiple Projects While He Can.

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As an actor, Ethan Hawke has barely put a foot wrong. From his first movie appearance back in 1985, Hawke has starred in some memorable movies in his almost 40 year career. His early roles included parts in Dead Poets Society alongside the great Robin Williams, and he went on to appearing the likes of Training Day, The Purge, and The Black Phone. One thing that Hawke has become aware of recently is that he only has so much time to be able to make movies and he wants to make the most of it. He recently said:

Ethan Hawke has not only seen his own career developing over the years, but recently has also seen daughter Maya Hawke become a household name thanks to her role in Netflix hit Stranger Things. In fact, Hawke recently revealed that he has his daughter to thank for encouraging him to take on his role as Arthur Harrow in Moon Knight. He said:

“I’ve definitely made the turn from being an old young person to being a young, old person. I prefer this. I feel like playing John Brown in The Good Lord Bird was that for me: the beginning of my ‘old man’ career, the beginning of my last act. But it’s the beginning of it, you know? I definitely find myself looking over a filmography and thinking about which ones I could’ve cut out because I only have so much time left. I know I only have so many movies left. You have an awareness of time.”

“Maya would say to me, ‘Why are you sitting on the outside and telling everyone their sandbox is bad? Why don’t you go into their sandbox, play with them, and show them what you have to offer?’”