At this year’s Berlin Film Festival, Ethan Hawke offered his opinion on the prevailing political controversy, stressing out that “jet-lagged, drunk artists” might not be the greatest people to turn to for advice. The Oscar-nominated actor was questioned on the need of prominent figures to speak out on issues like fascism at the press conference for his latest historical drama, “The Weight.”
After giving the subject some thought, he said, “Alright… the last place you probably want to look for advice in your spiritual counsel is a bunch of jet-lagged, drunk artists talking about their films.”
Hawke added, “I believe in the power of cinema to affect… you know how every night we all dream and those dreams kind of heal us and get us ready for the next day? I feel like, collectively, the whole festival — all of you, all of us here — are responsible for creating an international dream life. What is it? What are our dreams? What are we talking about? What are we thinking about?”
“At its core, it’s about a group of people who don’t think they have anything in common who band together to fight institutional greed and malevolence. And that’s worth fighting for,” he remarked, citing this as one of the primary reasons he loves “The Weight.” Hawke, however, answered the reporter’s question more bluntly at the end of his response, saying, “Anything that fights fascism, I’m all for it.”
At the Berlinale, politics are always a contentious subject, but this year it has become even more so after jury president Wim Wenders and several celebrities, including Michelle Yeoh and Neil Patrick Harris, chose not to respond to inquiries about Gaza, ICE raids in the United States, and the growing prominence of far-right politics.
