By In addition to the Before Sunset sequel that may shoot this summer, Ethan Hawke is working on another Richard Linklater film I can’t wait to see. It’s called Boyhood. The film chronicles the life of a boy from age 6 to age 18 and his relationship with his divorced parents.
To depict this, Boyhood is being shot over the course of 12 years using the same actors: Ethan Hawke, Patricia Arquette, and Ellar Salmon (he was just 7 when filming began in 2002). There are two more years to go, which will chronicle those crucial last steps into adulthood and the end of the film.
“It’s one of the most amazing things I’ve been involved in and I can’t wait for people to see it,” Hawke said yesterday. “In just the period of a two-hour movie, you watch a human being grow up. It’s almost like watching a flower bloom in time-elapsed photography.”
Hawke added, “For one minute you’re watching a six-year-old boy, and it’s so beautiful what Richard [Linklater] does with time: you don’t ever see him go from six to seven, to seven to eight, to eight to nine. It’s just all of a sudden you’re watching a seven-year-old and [whispering] oh, his voice has changed… Are those whiskers…? Is that him with a girl…? A couple minutes ago he was just riding a bike with his buddies! It’s so cool!”
After the cut is the part of the interview where we talk about Boyhood. Look for the full interview with Ethan Hawke tomorrow.
I know you’re working on Boyhood with Richard Linklater. How’s that been going? That’s such an ambitious project.
It’s one of the most amazing things I’ve been involved in and I can’t wait for people to see it. We’ve been making these short films every year for the last 10 years, Richard Linklater and I–well, I’m not in all of them. It follows a young boy from first grade to twelfth grade, very simple. In just the period of a two-hour movie, you watch a human being grow up. It’s almost like watching a flower bloom in time-elapsed photography. It’s just two hours of the experience of growing up. We have two more years, and they’re two important years because it’s the finale of the movie. I think it’s the greatest thing that Linklater’s ever done. I think it’s mind-blowing.
I can’t wait.
Oh, it’s so interesting. I mean, it’s very simple, it’s very humble. It’s epic in the most fragile of ways.
Because it’s like life.
It’s just like life. It’s so amazing watching these scenes. I don’t want to talk too much about it because I want everyone to see it, but it’s just amazing. For one minute you’re watching a six-year-old boy, and it’s so beautiful what Richard [Linklater] does with time: you don’t ever see him go from six to seven, to seven to eight, to eight to nine. It’s just all of a sudden you’re watching a seven-year-old and [whispering] oh, his voice has changed… Are those whiskers…? Is that him with a girl…? A couple minutes ago he was just riding a bike with his buddies! It’s so cool! [sighs]
