Does Maya Hawke remind you of two Hollywood legends? Well, truth is stranger than...

When Robin Buckley first appeared in Stranger Things Season 3, she instantly stood out. Witty, sharp, and fluent in multiple languages, her chemistry with Steve Harrington made her one of the show’s most beloved characters. But few realized that the actor behind Robin, Maya Hawke , came from cinematic royalty. A tweet that went viral recently summed it up perfectly: “The girl on the right looks like if Ethan Hawke and Uma Thurman had a baby.” The twist? The “girl on the right” is their baby.




Ethan Hawke and Uma Thurman’s love story began on the set of the 1997 sci-fi film Gattaca . In an interview with GQ, Hawke recalled, “Have you ever played Spin the Bottle? There’s a certain intimacy to the work that we do. Imaginative intimacy. It’s such a high. It feels dangerous and thrilling. It turns the temperature up in your life.” The two married the following year and welcomed their daughter, Maya, in 1998, followed by a son, Levon.



Their marriage was as public as their breakup, tabloids followed their split in 2005 amid rumors of infidelity, but over time, both actors managed to build a quiet, cooperative co-parenting relationship.



Away from the noise of fame, Maya Hawke grew up watching her parents redefine themselves as artists giving superhits like Kill Bill and The Training Day, and she eventually followed that same path.



In an interview with The Guardian in 2021, Maya explained, "They were wary of the public life side of acting and the difficulties of that. They also tried to protect me from falling into acting."



"They wanted to ensure I had a strong enough backbone, my own passion for it and work ethic. They didn't want to cart me along on every red carpet or have me do bit-parts in their movies. Once I was old enough, and it was clear they were my choices, they were very supportive."



Despite the noise of the media and hyper scrutiny of their relationships by critics, Maya never felt that her parents were celebrities. She said, “Like, I was never aware of my parents being anything other than my parents. They were loving and present and we played games and took train rides.”



But even after Maya had decided to take the path she did, she always came back to her parents for their advices. From the 2017 Little Women mini-series to Stranger Things and Do Revenge, Maya Hawke has already built an impressive résumé. Despite her growing success, she remains grounded — and grateful for the wisdom of her parents, Ethan Hawke and Uma Thurman. “I’m always running decisions by them,” she told WSJ. Magazine in July 2019. “They both have similar levels of success but really different experiences within the business.”



She shares a great relationship with both her parents even though they are separated. In an interview with people she talked about her relationship with her father. She told, ""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."



Such a mix of mentorship and parenting creates a relationship where honesty comes naturally. While Uma and Ethan don't mince their words in private, they are proud of their daughter. “She’s always been gifted,” Ethan said on a November 2020 episode of Late Night With Seth Meyers. "We've always had an easy dialogue about art."



Uma on the other hand, has openly shared her nerves about her daughter entering such a demanding industry, but as she told Access Hollywood in February 2022, it was only natural for Maya to follow her creative instincts. “In the end, she is such a brilliant actress, obviously there’s nothing else she would have ever done,” Uma said. “Her talent was so big. It’s what she had to do.”


Maya has shared the screen with both her parents. She portrayed her father’s on-screen daughter in the 2020 series The Good Lord Bird and acted alongside her mother in the 2023 thriller-comedy The Kill Room.



“I love working with both of them. They’re really awesome,” Maya told Ryan Seacrest during an August 2022 episode of Live with Kelly and Ryan. “They’re just amazing at their job.”



When Ethan spoke with Seth Meyers about collaborating with Maya on The Good Lord Bird, he praised her artistry, saying, “She’s got ideas, and she has a grace that she gave the show that I didn't know we needed so badly.”