Ethan Hawke Discusses His Male Role Models: 'I've Had a Lot of People Take Care of Me'

During a press conference at the Berlin Film Festival to promote his new adventure movie The Weight, Hollywood star Ethan Hawke spoke about the male role models who've shaped his life over the years.

The Weight centers around a group of men who are forced to smuggle gold through the dangerous Oregon wilderness, and Hawke was asked about how he interprets the film's title—and what kinds of weights he is carrying.

Ethan Hawke Honors His Male Role Models

"It was the weight of love," Hawke told Men's Journal and other outlets attending the Berlinale conference. "You know, what you're willing to do for love and how you're willing to put love in action."

He went on to admit that he's been blessed with several strong male role models throughout his career: "I've had a lot of men in my life growing up that I've really admired, and as you grow older, you start to see what they did for you—and that they had choices, and they didn't have to do it."

The Weight explores what it means to be a man, interrogating how society's perceptions of manhood and masculinity have changed over the years. This seems particularly pertinent to Hawke's comments, as he commends the people who've "taken care" of him throughout his career, rejecting the idea that men must be self-sufficient.

Hawke's honoring of male role models came briefly after a discussion about his children, who joined the actor during The Weight's production in Bavaria. "One of the unfortunate things about my children is they have to share my life with me," he joked. "For her winter project, [Hawke's daughter] Clementine pained the most beautiful picture of the river in Munich that's going to hang in our house forever."

The Weight had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on January 26, 2026, and screened at the 76th Berlinale on February 17. The film also stars Russell Crowe, Julia Jones, Austin Amello, and Avi Nash.