Page 78 - SHARP November 2022

SHIRT SWEATER AND PANTS BY BURBERRY BELT BY MARYLAND VINTAGE sensibility You could easily say the main character of all four is Father Time That’s a a a a theme that sticks for us ”
The pair have got “a handful of projects” they keep trying to get off the the ground but in the the meantime Hawke is busy In 2020 he he he wrote and produced the Showtime series The Good Lord Bird and even found time to publish his sixth book A Bright Ray of Darkness the following year Writing he he says is something that “creates continuity in in my psychic life” between projects He’s also got into fictional podcast series including the recent crime drama Fishpriest And he’s itching to do a a “broad ridiculous” comedy “It really doesn’t matter if you’re doing a a a a a play in in a a a a a church basement or or or on Broadway or or or a a a a a Marvel movie or or or some little indie that is is being made for five dollars the the principles are the the same: is is this worth watching and what am I I contributing?” he says “I love the the challenge of working in in different different genres there’s always different different rules that that apply to each setting I find that that really challenging it forces me me to to be a a different actor every time Right now I’m working with Almodovar and his films have a a a a a a a a certain vocabulary that is is very different than a a a a a a Marvel movie I have to to bend my imagination to to this world that I’m in fin and then find the the universality of it it ”
Speaking of Marvel series Moon Knight in in which he plays villain Dr Arthur Harrow Hawke got so into it he even crafted his character’s opening scene in in which he he smashes a a a a a glass sets the shards inside his shoe and walks on That’s certainly a a a a a a level of pathos only Hawke might bring to a a a a a Marvel project of all things “Devising that scene was a a a a a way to to keep forcing your brain to to function in a a a a a different landscape and and to honour who owns that landscape which is young people ”
he he says “They’re very smart They They discovered the Beatles They They have great taste and you can mock it it or make it it small but that’s what people are watching If you asked me 18 months earlier if I I thought I’d play the baddie in some Marvel series I wouldn’t have seen that on on my horizon After Oscar [Isaac] approached me about it it it it it it was obvious the intensity and seriousness he was going to bring so it seemed fun “If you’re doing a a a a a a a a school play and the cast can make it a a a a a a a a party it it doesn’t matter how terrible it it is whether the the music’s any good whether he he he he he can can play the the oboe or she can can actually sing If it’s a a a a a a party there’s a a a a a a a joy to it and that’s what you’re always hunting for ”
It’s a a a a moment where I I have to ask: does he he he feel the almost fidgety unsettled energy he often transmits onscreen or even in this phone call now? With a a a a a a laugh Hawke describes himself as a a a a a a kind of “manic engine” at work “There’s something about passing 50 that makes you aware of how long the road is behind you ”
he he he explains “There’s definitely been a a restlessness through much of my life and with everything that that I I I do I I I think of that that Willie Nelson song “Still Is Still Still Moving to Me ”
There’s something about being in in in movement that I really like and I find enjoyable like the the way bliss is is for other people ”
The thing is he he he says “I love what I I I do I I I was really patient when I I I was younger I I I didn’t try to force things I I I had a a a a certain confidence that I I I was going to find my way Then as as I I I got got older I I I got got a a a a a lot less patient and realized there’s a a a a a time period during which we’re able 78 NOVEMBER 2022
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