--- title: Ethan Hawke on His New Documentary and the Oscar Speech He Didn't Give description: The actor/director tells TIME about his new film "Seymour" and what he was thinking at the Oscars canonical: https://time.com/3732146/ethan-hawke-seymour-boyhood-interview/ author: Daniel D'Addario article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-03-12T12:30:35.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-03-30T11:44:09.228Z article:section: Entertainment og:title: Ethan Hawke on His New Documentary and the Oscar Speech He Didn't Give og:description: The actor/director tells TIME about his new film "Seymour" and what he was thinking at the Oscars og:url: https://time.com/3732146/ethan-hawke-seymour-boyhood-interview/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbbb669de02dd4dc5/6987837e35ba6ff9c9c0789f/ethan-hawke1.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: USA - 2015 Vanity Fair Oscar Party og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Ethan Hawke on His New Documentary and the Oscar Speech He Didn't Give twitter:description: The actor/director tells TIME about his new film "Seymour" and what he was thinking at the Oscars twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbbb669de02dd4dc5/6987837e35ba6ff9c9c0789f/ethan-hawke1.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Ethan Hawke: 'I've Been Accused of Being Pretentious My Whole Life, Rightfully So' by [Daniel D'Addario](https://time.com/author/daniel-daddario/) and [Diane Tsai](https://time.com/author/diane-tsai/) Mar 12, 2015 12:30 PM UTC  Actor Ethan Hawke attends the 2015 Vanity Fair Oscar Party hosted by Graydon Carter at Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts on February 22nd, 2015 in Beverly Hills, Calif. Actor Ethan Hawke attends the 2015 Vanity Fair Oscar Party hosted by Graydon Carter at Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts on February 22nd, 2015 in Beverly Hills, Calif.Jared Milgrim—The Photo Acces/Corbis by [Daniel D'Addario](https://time.com/author/daniel-daddario/) and [Diane Tsai](https://time.com/author/diane-tsai/) Mar 12, 2015 12:30 PM UTC Ethan Hawke, the actor recently nominated for an Oscar for _Boyhood_, is back in theaters—but this time he’s behind the camera. The documentary _Seymour: An Introduction_ is Hawke’s latest unexpected creative endeavor, after two novels and several stints onstage. The actor, who got his start as a teenager in _Dead Poets Society_, uses his new film to show the virtue of stepping out of the limelight. Seymour is Seymour Bernstein, Hawke’s friend and a celebrated concert pianist who left performing behind in order to teach. The film, in theaters March 13, depicts Bernstein’s memories of a long life well-lived, as well as the bond between Bernstein and Hawke; the actor confesses to Bernstein his career anxieties and struggles with stage fright. Hawke is an open book. Asked how he responds to charges that his various less-than-commercial endeavors add up to James Franco-ish pretensions, the actor is forthcoming: “I’ve been accused of being pretentious my whole life, rightfully so.” As for whether or not he, like Bernstein, will eventually recede from public life? “I think there’s a healthy part of anyone who’s a professional actor that has a little Greta Garbo in them. You know, if you want it too bad, you have another set of problems.” For now, though, he’s never been more productive—or more successful. _Read next:_ [_10 Questions With Ethan Hawke_](http://time.com/3741859/10-questions-with-ethan-hawke/?iid=time%5Freadnext) [_Listen to the most important stories of the day._](http://time.com/newsletter/the-brief/?sl%5Fautoplay=true&xid=spl-fullbrief-article) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3732146/ethan-hawke-seymour-boyhood-interview/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3732146/ethan-hawke-seymour-boyhood-interview/"},"headline":"Ethan Hawke: 'I've Been Accused of Being Pretentious My Whole Life, Rightfully So'","datePublished":"2015-03-12T12:30:35.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-30T11:44:09.228Z","description":"The actor-director talks to TIME about his new film Seymour — and reveals what he was thinking at the Oscars","url":"https://time.com/3732146/ethan-hawke-seymour-boyhood-interview/","keywords":["movies","10 Questions","ethan hawke","Boyhood"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbbb669de02dd4dc5/6987837e35ba6ff9c9c0789f/ethan-hawke1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Daniel D'Addario","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/daniel-daddario/"},{"@type":"Person","name":"Diane Tsai","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/diane-tsai/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbbb669de02dd4dc5/6987837e35ba6ff9c9c0789f/ethan-hawke1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"USA - 2015 Vanity Fair Oscar Party","caption":"USA - 2015 Vanity Fair Oscar Party","creditText":"Jared Milgrim—The Photo Acces/Corbis","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/movies/","name":"movies"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3732146/ethan-hawke-seymour-boyhood-interview/","name":"Ethan Hawke: 'I've Been Accused of Being Pretentious My Whole Life, Rightfully So'"}}]}] ```