Ethan Hawke Says ‘Everybody Treated Me Differently’ with Brown Eyes Making ‘Blue Moon’

Ethan Hawke saw a difference in how he was treated after he went from blue eyes to brown for his new film, Blue Moon.

During a live discussion on Saturday, Oct. 4, as part of the 2025 Hamptons International Film Festival‘s “A Conversation With…” series, the Oscar nominee, 54, talked about wearing brown contacts and shaving his head to play Broadway lyricist Lorenz Hart.

“It’s funny, I’ve read reviews that cite the prosthetics or a bald cap or all these different things, none of which is there,” Hawke said inside the East Hampton Middle School. The different eye color “somehow changed my face dramatically,” he said, “in a way that I didn’t understand or anticipate.”

“But I found the eyes had the biggest impact. And I noticed it right away with my cast mates. They were like — everybody treated me differently. The height, obviously, the hair, obviously, the body language, the voice. There were a lot of things that went into creating this character, but I found the eyes the most dramatic.”

Directed by Richard Linklater, Blue Moon also stars Margaret Qualley, Bobby Cannavale and Andrew Scott. According to a synopsis, the film finds “legendary lyricist Lorenz Hart (Hawke) bravely facing the future as his professional and private life unravel at the opening night party for his former partner’s hit show Oklahoma!”

“By the time this night is over,” the synopsis teases, “Hart will have confronted both a world that no longer values his talent and the seeming impossibility of love.”

Of his physical transformation, Hawke mentioned, “My wife didn’t like it. And I didn’t like that.” The actor married wife Ryan in 2008. They share Clementine, 17, and Indiana, 14, and Hawke is also dad to Maya, 27, and Levon, 23, with ex-wife Uma Thurman.

Later in the Hamptons International Film Festival Q&A, Hawke was asked if he takes breaks from work somewhere in his busy schedule. The actor looked into the audience for his wife, who responded: “No.”

“I was wondering what you would say,” he said with a smile from the stage. “Sometimes I feel like there is [a break] but then she’ll tell me it lasted, like, two hours — but it’s a dark two hours. I’m restless and like to work and really enjoy it.”

The star talked about why he enjoys working with Ryan, with whom he runs the production company Under the Influence.

“One of the things that’s been great about falling in love with a partner and sharing your work is you don’t have to compartmentalize your life,” said Hawke. “Because I love what I do so much, and it’s really hard for me to keep it in a box over there. … It’s really fun to do together. It makes me a lot more productive.”

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Hawke also stars on the new FX series The Lowdown and returns as The Grabber in the horror sequel Black Phone 2, in theaters Oct. 17.

Blue Moon is in select theaters Oct. 17, then everywhere Oct. 24.