The native Texan is a long shot to win on March 15. But Academy Awards voters historically lean towards Hollywood journeymen.
SAN ANTONIO — What do an LAPD rookie officer, a divorced dad trying to do right by his son and a legendary Broadway songwriter have in common? They’re all roles that have garnered Texas-born actor Ethan Hawke an Academy Award nomination.
Before the nominations for the 98th Academy Awards were announced last week, Hawke in fact had four Oscar nods from various stages of his career—two for writing (“Before Sunset,” “Before Midnight”) and two for acting (“Training Day,” “Boyhood”).
Hawke’s latest recognition comes as part of his decadeslong collaboration with fellow Austinite Richard Linklater, whose drama “Blue Moon” stars Hawke as Lorenz Hart, the 20th century lyricist struggling with alcoholism on opening night of “Oklahoma!” in 1943.
The film has earned Hawke raves. The New York Times noted his Hart “throws off witticisms and barbs and compliments… with aplomb, in a terrible comb-over, and you love him”; the New Yorker wrote called the turn “exalted and startling”; and RogerEbert.com said it was one of his “most remarkable performances” in a career spanning more than 80 film roles.
While his “Training Day” and “Boyhood” nominations – which came in 2002 and 2015, respectively – were for supporting actor, “Blue Moon” is the 55-year-old thespian’s first for a lead role.
He also happens to be a horse running in one of the most exciting races of the 2026 Oscars. Also up for Best Lead Actor is wunderkind Timothee Chalamet, the odds-on favorite after portraying a scummy table tennis talent in “Marty Supreme.” There’s also the venerable Leonardo DiCaprio for playing a one-time revolutionary in “One Battle After Another”; Michael B. Jordan for his dual-role work in the horror blockbuster “Sinners”; and Brazilian actor Wagner Moura for his turn in the low-key political thriller “The Secret Agent.”
Hawke, a typically sensitive actor, is no stranger to going up against brasher performances; in 2015 he lost to J.K. Simmons, who won dozens of accolades for his earth-shattering turn as an abusive conductor in “Whiplash.”
The competition is stiff this time around, too: Hawke’s Lead Actor counterparts featured in movies that all received more Academy Awards nominations (“Blue Moon’s” lone other nod came over in Best Original Screenplay) and which are all also nominated for Best Picture, an indication of their overall support.
That doesn’t mean Hawke is already down and out. The voting body for the Academy Awards is historically more favorable to established, consistently working actors. And as recently as 2023, voters opted to award Brendan Fraser for “The Whale,” a beloved journeyman who won the Oscar even when his film wasn’t in the Best Picture conversation. Still, that’s a rare occasion: Before Fraser, Jeff Bridges was the last to accomplish the feat, in 2010 for “Crazy Heart.”
Regardless, it shouldn’t be long before we see Hawke on our big screens again; his Great Depression-era drama “The Weight” premieres this week at the Sundance Film Festival. Meanwhile, “Revolver” – which partners him with real-life daughter Maya Hawke in a “Beatles-based coming-of-age film” – has reportedly been stuck in production limbo since 2020.
The Oscars air the evening of March 15 on ABC.