News Roundup: September 2, 2025

LOS ANGELES, September 2, 2025 - Ethan Hawke Is Glad He Lost Titanic Role to Leonardo DiCaprio Ethan Hawke said he’s relieved he didn’t land the part of Jack Dawson in James Cameron’s 1997 epic Titanic, telling British GQ that he “could not have handled that success as well as Leo,” referring to Leonardo DiCaprio’s career-launching turn in the film. Hawke, 54, noted that DiCaprio’s meteoric rise made him “a f—ing Beatle,” and reflected that missing out on the role allowed him to pursue diverse projects-such as Training Day, which earned him a 2001 Academy Award nomination-without the intense spotlight that followed DiCaprio’s breakthrough.

LOS ANGELES, September 2, 2025 - Ethan Hawke Has No Regrets About Big Role He Missed In an interview with GQ Magazine, Hawke reiterated that losing the Titanic audition was “best for him,” explaining he never “self-identified as a ‘movie star’” and felt “all that attention would have been humiliating” rather than inspiring. The actor, who has starred in Dead Poets Society and Before Sunrise, emphasized his aversion to tabloid scrutiny and praised the freedom to chart his own artistic course outside of blockbuster fame.

LOS ANGELES, September 2, 2025 - Ethan Hawke on Why Falling in Love on Set Is “Dangerous” Speaking to GQ Hype, Hawke described the “imaginative intimacy” actors share during production as akin to “falling in love at summer camp,” warning it “doesn’t have any connection to the dailiness of real life” and can be perilous for on-set romances. Reflecting on his own marriage to Uma Thurman, Hawke, 54, admitted that the intense emotions of working together often proved “dangerous and thrilling,” yet ultimately unsustainable off camera.