Hawke Family Laughs In Face Of Recent ‘Nepo-Baby’ Trend As Ethan Hires Daughter Maya For His Movie

Let’s just make one thing clear before we start this article: Ethan Hawke rules and we will not be besmirching the name of the actor who’s likely the most underrated of his generation around these parts.

Don’t believe me? Just look at the articles I’ve written about him in recent years, which would’ve undeniably been more viral stories had they featured Keanu Reeves instead of the remarkably slept-on Hawke.

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I mention that because — despite Ethan casting his daughter Maya as writer Flannery O’Connor in his upcoming directorial effort Wildcast seeming like Nepotism 101 — I’m actually going to give him the benefit of the doubt, because not only does he come across as a legitimately deep and compassionate man, but Maya is a legitimately good actress who has carved out a key role the Stranger Things franchise.

That said, my understanding might put me in the minority, as the reactions to the casting news have been largely far from positive:

The decision from Hawke to cast his own daughter in his own movie comes in the wake of a “nepo baby” discourse that went viral following the publication of an article in New York Magazine back in January.

“Wildcat will follow O’Connor as she struggles to publish her first novel. A devout Catholic from Georgia, O’Connor was invited to the prestigious Iowa Writers’ Workshop. Famous for her offbeat short fiction about the American South and her faith, she was plagued by lupus for much of her life, and died at 39.” [via Variety]

In addition to Maya Hawke, Wildcast is set to star Laura Linney, Steve Zahn, Cooper Hoffman, Alessandro Nivola, and Vincent D’Onofrio.

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