Culture Crash: Why Actor Ethan Hawke Isn’t Slowing Down

Ethan Hawke has been in audience’s lives for decades. Since breaking through with his acting performance in the 1989 film Dead Poets Society, Hawke has made a name for himself in films that run the gamut of genres. He’s starred in the crime drama Training Day and Richard Linklater’s romantic Before Trilogy, as well as horror movies like The Purge and sci-fi films including Gattaca.

In 2025, Hawke had himself a heck of a year, gaining awards buzz for his turn in the quietly devastating drama Blue Moon where Hawke played tragic lyricist Lorenz Hart. 

But that’s not even my favorite Ethan Hawke performance of last year. That’s because he also played a down-but-never-out citizen journalist named Lee Raybon in a neo-noir comedy crime show called The Lowdown on FX. Set in Tulsa, Oklahoma, The Lowdown was created by Sterlin Harjo, who is following up his widely acclaimed dramady series Reservation Dogs. 

In The Lowdown, Hawke’s Raybon is a bookseller and writer digging up dirt on the powerful Washberg family. After one of the Washbergs ends up dead, Raybon’s life gets turned upside down in a cascade of hijinks and chaos. Funny and touching, but also wildly unpredictable and dramatic, The Lowdown was one of my favorite shows of 2025. The first season is now streaming on Hulu, and FX has officially picked the show up for a season two.

Ethan Hawke has been a leading man and a Hollywood staple for decades. But his longevity is only half the story, as he seems to effortlessly melt into his characters,  whether that’s a depressed lyricist in Blue Moon or a journalist on the hunt of a story in The Lowdown. **Where many of his contemporaries seem to be content riding off into the sunset, Hawke seems set on continuing to act for many years to come. And that is very good news.

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