Ethan Hawke Reveals How Robert Redford Changed the Course of His Career

Ethan Hawke is crediting the late Robert Redford with changing the trajectory of his career.

On Wednesday Sept. 17, one day after the legendary actor died at the age of 89, Hawke shared the lasting impact Redford’s choice to premiere his 1995 film Before Sunrise at Sundance Film Festival had on his life.

“He picked Before Sunrise to open the the festival, and he introduced it,” Hawke told Us Weekly at the premiere of The Lowdown at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. “It was a big moment in [director] Richard Linklater and I’s life just to have Robert Redford take us under his wing and say, ‘I believe in you guys,’ and to open the festival with [our] movie.”

“We were getting bad reviews and stuff at the time. Redford was one of the first guys to get that movie and to get what was interesting about it,” he continued. “Everybody wanted the director of Slacker to make Reality Bites 2 — and that’s not what [Linklater] did. He did something else. Redford was like, ‘That’s cool.’ And we were like, ‘Hey, Redford thinks we’re cool. Maybe we are cool?’”

Redford founded Sundance, the largest independent film festival in the United States, in 1978. Before Sunrise, which starred Hawke and Julie Delpy, received positive reviews at the festival and is now widely considered one of the best romance films of all time.

Before Sunrise was a turning point in Hawke’s career, helping him become a well-respected actor following commercial success with films like Dead Poets Society (1989) and Reality Bites (1994). The movie also solidified his partnership with Linklater, with the two going on to make seven more films together.

Two of these films were sequels to Before Sunrise: Before Sunset (2004) and Before Midnight (2013).

Hawke is just one of many actors to pay tribute to Redford following his passing. Other notable names who have honored the late star include Barbra Streisand, Jane Fonda, Meryl Streep and many more.

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This story was originally reported by Parade on Sep 24, 2025, where it first appeared in the News section. Add Parade as a Preferred Source by clicking here.