Ethan Hawke is looking back on his early days in Hollywood and the lessons he learned while filming Dead Poets Society.
In a new conversation with Vanity Fair, the actor shared that watching Robin Williams work on set was both unforgettable and eye-opening, especially since Hawke was only 18 at the time.
Hawke explained that director Peter Weir had a challenging job guiding Williams through his role.
“Robin is a comic genius. But dramatic acting was still new to Robin at that time,” he said. Hawke recalled sitting just a few feet away while Williams and Weir discussed performance choices, and the experience changed the way he viewed acting.
He admitted he had no idea actors could veer off script so freely.
He said Williams would simply run with an idea without waiting for approval, which, for Hawke, “opened a new door” about what acting could be.
“Robin Williams didn’t do the script, and I didn’t know you could do that. If he had an idea, he just did it. He didn’t ask permission.”
Hawke noted that Weir embraced Williams’ spontaneity as long as the story stayed on track. While the two men had different creative styles, Hawke admired the way they stayed open to each other’s process.
Their teamwork, he said, showed how powerful collaboration can be. “They worked with each other,” he explained, adding that great projects can come from combining multiple perspectives.
Released in 1989, the film starred Williams as an English teacher who inspires his students through poetry at a strict boarding school.
The movie became a major box office hit, earning $235 million worldwide, and later garnered Oscar nominations for best picture, best director, and best actor for Williams.
For Hawke, seeing Williams bring so much individuality to his performance at such a young age left an impression that stayed with him.