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23 Jan 2026 11:00
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  •   Home > News > Entertainment

    Maya Hawke knows her famous parents have “made it easy” for her to become an actress – but thinks she’ll be “kicked out” of Hollywood if she “sucks”

    The 22-year-old actress is the daughter of Ethan Hawke and Uma Thurman, and has said she’s “grateful” for the kickstart her parents have given her career


    But Maya doesn’t think she’ll be able to get by on her parents’ names forever, as she believes Hollywood will kick her out if she doesn’t put in some stellar performances.

    She said: "I'm very grateful for the fact that they made it so easy for me to do the thing that I love. I think I'll get a couple chances on their name and then if I suck, I'll get kicked out of the kingdom. And that's what should happen. So I'm just going to try not to suck."

    The ‘Stranger Things’ star also insisted there was “no moment” in which she realised her love for acting because she has been immersed in it for her entire life.

    She added: "There was no moment. I was always just doing school plays and acting camp over the summer. I guess it clicked for me that I wanted to do it professionally was when I realized that there were no school plays for adults. The happiest place in the world for me was on set or on stage.

    "I feel so lucky to get to participate. I love this business. I love movies. I love art. I love it so much. I would have done lights on Mainstream. I would have done catering."

    And Maya praised her father as a “teacher”, after the pair worked together on an episode of Showtime's ‘The Good Lord Bird’ last year.

    Admitting they had been thinking about the collaboration “forever”, she told People magazine: "But we're always working together in one way or another. Whether it's me calling him being like, 'How do I do this? I need help.' Or him helping me with audition tapes. There's a real network of communication there. I really see him as my teacher more than almost anything else."

    © 2026 Bang Showbiz, NZCity

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