Joe Rogan Experience #2425 - Ethan Hawke

1. 0:00 – 15:00

   (drumbeats) Joe Rogan podcast,…

   1. JRJoe Rogan0:00

      (drumbeats) Joe Rogan podcast, check it out. The Joe Rogan Experience. Train by day, Joe Rogan podcast by night. All day. (instrumental music plays)

   2. EHEthan Hawke0:12

      Nathan Hawke, ladies and gentlemen.

   3. JRJoe Rogan0:14

      Nice to meet you. (laughs) Great to meet you, man. Mm-hmm. It's weird when you see someone in so many fucking movies and then you meet them in real life. You're like, "Okay, just a regular person, right there."

   4. EHEthan Hawke0:22

      Yeah, staring me in the face.

   5. JRJoe Rogan0:24

      Yeah, right there.

   6. EHEthan Hawke0:24

      He just took a leak, yeah. (laughs)

   7. JRJoe Rogan0:28

      (laughs) Um, dude, you've been in some fucking banger movies, man. It's like, you've had an incredible career.

   8. EHEthan Hawke0:35

      Yeah.

   9. JRJoe Rogan0:35

      Pull that sucker, uh, pull that microphone up, yeah.

   10. EHEthan Hawke0:37

       Yeah, like, pull it towards me?

   11. JRJoe Rogan0:38

       Yeah, just r-

   12. EHEthan Hawke0:38

       All right, very good. Yeah, it's been a long, strange trip.

   13. JRJoe Rogan0:42

       It's been a wild one, huh?

   14. EHEthan Hawke0:43

       Yeah.

   15. JRJoe Rogan0:44

       When did you start acting? How old were you?

   16. EHEthan Hawke0:47

       All right. So, um, like, 12 years old, I don't have a winter sport. My mother doesn't know what to do with me, and, uh, my next door neighbor, he lived, like, four houses down, and he took an acting class at the Paul Robeson Center of Performing Arts. And so, my mother signed me up so that I could get picked up by his mom, you know, taken to acting class in the winter and get dropped off, you know, and be at home. And I went there, and this head of a local theater company came by to teach an improv seminar, kind of thing. I'm 12 years old, right? And afterwards, in the parking lot, he said, um, "Hey, you wanna be in a play?" I said, "What do you mean?" He says, "I got a part of a guy who's a knight. He gets to, you get to have a sword." And I said, "Will I have any lines?" He said, "You'll have one line." I said, "All right, cool." And I asked my mom, and she said, "Do I have to pay?" You know? (laughs)

   17. JRJoe Rogan1:42

       (laughs)

   18. EHEthan Hawke1:43

       And I said, "I don't think so. I think they're gonna pay me." So I went and I did this play, and it was George Bernard Shaw's Saint Joan at the McCarter Theatre in New Jersey. And-

   19. JRJoe Rogan1:53

       Oh, it's a real play.

   20. EHEthan Hawke1:54

       Yeah, it was a, it was a proper play.

   21. JRJoe Rogan1:55

       Wow.

   22. EHEthan Hawke1:56

       And it was an incredible experience, to be honest with you, because my parents hated their jobs, you know? They would go to work, and their life happened on the periphery of their employment.

   23. JRJoe Rogan2:09

       Mm-hmm.

   24. EHEthan Hawke2:10

       You know, my mom would take the train to New York, and so she wouldn't get home till 7:30 something. She would leave at dawn. And, um, she was just miserable, uh, at work, I mean. And, um, I went to this rehearsal and everyone was having, they were talking about whether or not God existed. They were talking about what they believed in. They would dress up in these crazy outfits, and then we did the play, and they got a standing ovation. And it was, uh, it was so much fun. And I, it was the first time I saw, it was like, "This, you could do this for a living?"

   25. JRJoe Rogan2:43

       (laughs)

   26. EHEthan Hawke2:44

       Uh, you know, a lot of the, the actors aren't people you've heard of or anything like that, but they were real actors and they loved their job. And the rehearsal room was so kind of thrilling watching them figure out where people should stand and when, what was important and what was the scene about and what was the theme of the play and how could this scene fit in with the larger context? And, um, and I just decided that's what I wanted to do. And a lot of kids wanna act, so that doesn't mean very much. But I... Through this other friend of mine, I started hearing about open casting calls in New York, and I asked my mom if I could go on some of these big auditions. And again, she said, "Does, is it gonna cost me any money?" She said if I paid for my own train fare, I could go to these auditions. And so, I took some Polaroids and, uh, went on a few of these big auditions, and I got one of them. And it was for this big, in 1984, it was a $30 million movie directed by the guy who'd just done Gremlins, right? Joe Dante. And I thought I was a made man. I mean, it was just, it was eng- It was absolutely incredible to be sucked out of suburban America and brought to LA. My first scene partner was River Phoenix, and all of a sudden-

   27. JRJoe Rogan3:54

       Whoa.

   28. EHEthan Hawke3:55

       ... um, I'm in LA and, you know, my mom couldn't quit her job or anything, so my mom had a really, uh, turbulent relationship with her mother. But her mother, her mother and she didn't really know each other, and so her mother said she'd be my guardian. And my mom designed this as a way to maybe have a family healing, but my grandmother was, um, a piece of work. (laughs)

   29. JRJoe Rogan4:19

       (laughs)

   30. EHEthan Hawke4:19

       And, uh, we lived together in Koreatown. That's what they called it and, um, it was wild. And she... I remember we drove into Paramount Studios, you know, you can picture it, the image from The Godfather and you had the big gates, and my grandmother had always wanted to be a movie star.
2. 15:00 – 30:00

   Hmm. Hmm. Is, do…

   1. EHEthan Hawke15:00

      and that changed me 'cause I met a lot of people who were really excellent at what I do that weren't making a lot of money. I met a lot of people who loved it as much as I do who weren't getting their picture taken, who weren't being told they were special. I knew how gifted they were. I could understand... I had a little bit of balance and a little bit of humility to go along with the superficial elements of, of my chosen field.

   2. JRJoe Rogan15:23

      Hmm. Hmm. Is, do you ever think about, like, what would've happened if that guy didn't invite you to do that play when you were 12? It's kind of crazy how there's these pivotal moments in your life...

   3. EHEthan Hawke15:35

      You know, he just died. Nagle Jackson was his name, and he's, he was a great theater director. I mean, the... I don't know if you feel this way. I, I don't know what... I have the sense often, and I know this just sounds really dopey to say, but I sometimes have a sense of a guardian angel of some kind, of, "Why did this guy talk to me in the parking lot? And why was he such a kind, decent human being?" Um, throughout my life, I have had opportunities presented to me, and I had enough intuition and enough, uh, intelligence, maybe, to follow it. But I do think about it. I think about it all the time, uh, all the ways that are imperceptible on the Tuesday and Wednesday and Thursday that they happen, but where your life is kind of guided.

   4. JRJoe Rogan16:28

      Mm-hmm.

   5. EHEthan Hawke16:28

      Um, and it doesn't really feel by your own doing.

   6. JRJoe Rogan16:32

      Yeah. I know it sounds wacky to say, but I believe it, too. I mean, I don't publicly profess it as the definite reason why everything happens. But there's a bunch of... I think most people that have gotten anywhere in life, there's moments in their life they're like, "How did that happen? Like, what... why did this feel like it was a, a destined path? Like, why, why was I compelled to try this? What was the, what was the thought behind that? And what, am I, am I being guided? Is there f- is fate real?"

   7. EHEthan Hawke17:06

      I wonder how other people feel, but I do think one of the keys... I think that probably everybody has a path that is there for them. And the trick about knowing yourself, the value in taking time to, like, be still with yourself and listen to yourself, you know that there's an expression, "The voice of our spirit is extremely gentle." Uh, and it's, it's difficult to hear it.

   8. JRJoe Rogan17:37

      Hmm.

   9. EHEthan Hawke17:37

      It's qui- it's quiet.

   10. JRJoe Rogan17:38

       Yeah.

   11. EHEthan Hawke17:39

       But if you can hear it, that thing intuition, that thing the path, the idea of a guardian angel, whatever, you can see what's happening around you if you're in touch with yourself. And if you're not in touch with yourself, you keep tripping on the same... You're not seeing the angles and the roads-

   12. JRJoe Rogan17:57

       Yeah.

   13. EHEthan Hawke17:57

       ... that might be available to you. So, I do think that part of the trick is taking time to, to actually get to know yourself so that you can see the light when it appears, 'cause I bet you everybody has 'em.

   14. JRJoe Rogan18:11

       I bet they do, too. I bet there's also...... a real factor in recognizing the misery of your mother's life. What she was doing, where she didn't take these chances. She didn't, she had responsibility, she was-

   15. EHEthan Hawke18:28

       Yeah, but can I tell you something funny about that?

   16. JRJoe Rogan18:30

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   17. EHEthan Hawke20:03

       So she was 18 when I was born, right?

   18. JRJoe Rogan20:05

       Mm.

   19. EHEthan Hawke20:07

       So that's, that's tough. You don't really have a childhood, right?

   20. JRJoe Rogan20:10

       Right.

   21. EHEthan Hawke20:11

       And, but in her mid 40s, she took it. She joined the Peace Corps in her mid 40s, after I, you know, uh, once I was okay. And it was right around the time my oldest, Maya, was born. She-

   22. JRJoe Rogan20:25

       Are you single s- single child?

   23. EHEthan Hawke20:27

       Yeah, yeah, yeah. And I think I was a big part of her, on her brain a lot, w- worrying. It was a big, "I- is this kid gonna be all right? Is this kid gonna be all right?"

   24. JRJoe Rogan20:38

       Yeah.

   25. EHEthan Hawke20:38

       It makes a lot of noise in your head, you know.

   26. JRJoe Rogan20:40

       Sure.

   27. EHEthan Hawke20:41

       And, um, and I was all right. And she looked around, and I remember her saying that, "You know, if, if an accident happened today, when they do happen, and I died, I would be extremely disappointed in myself." She was probably f- I don't know, 46 or something when she said this, younger than I am now. And, um, and she said, "I don't want to be disappointed in my life." So she joined the Peace Corps, which she wasn't all that impressed with.

   28. JRJoe Rogan21:11

       (laughs)

   29. EHEthan Hawke21:11

       But they sent her to, uh, Romania, and she fell in love with Romania, and she fell in love with, um, the people there. And she got obsessed with the racism against the Gypsy culture, um, the Roma culture, I'm supposed to call it. Um, and it reminded her a lot of growing up here in the '60s, um, and the racism she saw as a young girl, and she just decided to do something about it. And she spent 25 years there, and she got thousands of kids into school who wouldn't have gone to school. She just recently retired back to Fort Worth. And it's, she's a different woman than the woman I grew up with. Um, which is, I- I think, a remarkable story. I- I loved both the women, the wo- the woman now and the woman I grew up with. I- I don't wanna paint some portrait that she was miserable. She had so much... She just had, was miserable at work.

   30. JRJoe Rogan22:01

       Right.
3. 30:00 – 45:00

   (laughs) …

   1. EHEthan Hawke30:00

      And it doesn't, it's not that interesting to him how much money you make. Um, that's not where his value system is placed on whether... He's naturally suspicious of people who want too much attention.

   2. JRJoe Rogan30:12

      (laughs)

   3. EHEthan Hawke30:12

      N- naturally suspicious of that in me, which was good for me. Because-

   4. JRJoe Rogan30:17

      It's a good suspicion.

   5. EHEthan Hawke30:18

      It's a healthy suspicion.

   6. JRJoe Rogan30:19

      Yeah.

   7. EHEthan Hawke30:20

      He had... Was very realistic about the chances I had of making a profession out of this. That's not a bad thing. You know, everybody says...... it's so great to tell people to follow your dreams, and it is important to follow your dreams. But it's also important to be realistic and have a plan, and take care of yourself and, and, um, when you say you're gonna do something, to do it, to show up when you're asked, to tell the truth. All these things that... So whenever things would start to go well, I had this person in my life that's very important to me who doesn't place a value on anything superficial. And when we talked about why it's so hard to meet young people in this profession who make it, what starts to happen regardless of how good or not good your parents are or something, your circle can get infiltrated with a lot of people trying to make money off you. And, um, and that's dangerous 'cause they don't care about you, you know?

   8. JRJoe Rogan31:22

      Yeah, that is an issue. Th- there is an issue of people trying to get you to take work that you really shouldn't take just because they're gonna get a percentage of it.

   9. EHEthan Hawke31:29

      Or it's gonna be good for you in the next-

   10. JRJoe Rogan31:30

       Yeah, right.

   11. EHEthan Hawke31:31

       ... three years, but they don't have your long-term-

   12. JRJoe Rogan31:33

       Right.

   13. EHEthan Hawke31:33

       ... y- you know, what is gonna be good for the 65-year-old v- version of you.

   14. JRJoe Rogan31:37

       Right.

   15. EHEthan Hawke31:38

       Y- you know, is this... Like you said, yeah, if I could have f- if I could have decided my life, Explorers would have been a huge hit. It would have been E.T. big, and you know what? I wouldn't be here on this talk show today. You know, so I don't wanna be in charge of my whole life in that way, you know? You-

   16. JRJoe Rogan31:52

       Maybe you would, but it'd be different. You'd be coming out of rehab. (laughs)

   17. EHEthan Hawke31:54

       Oh, oh, for sure.

   18. JRJoe Rogan31:55

       (laughs)

   19. EHEthan Hawke31:55

       It would be a Charlie Sheen story.

   20. JRJoe Rogan31:57

       Yeah, yeah, dude. I'd be on Marriage at 18. Who, by the way, was a fantastic guy to talk to.

   21. EHEthan Hawke32:01

       I bet he was. Yeah, I listened to it. It was fantastic. (laughs)

   22. JRJoe Rogan32:04

       He was a wonderful guy, like a sweetheart of a guy, a guy who went through the exact opposite of what I'm saying is good for you.

   23. EHEthan Hawke32:12

       If you survive-

   24. JRJoe Rogan32:14

       Yeah.

   25. EHEthan Hawke32:15

       ... anything is a learning tool.

   26. JRJoe Rogan32:16

       Right.

   27. EHEthan Hawke32:16

       Right? I mean, some of... You, you must have this. Some of the wisest people I know have been through the 12-step program.

   28. JRJoe Rogan32:25

       Yes.

   29. EHEthan Hawke32:26

       And so, addiction and misery can be an unbelievable teacher if you can, if you pull yourself out of it.

   30. JRJoe Rogan32:35

       If you survive, yeah.
4. 45:00 – 1:00:00

   Yeah, which is- …

   1. JRJoe Rogan45:00

      terror of someone you deeply admire not liking your idea.

   2. EHEthan Hawke45:03

      Yeah, which is-

   3. JRJoe Rogan45:04

      (laughs)

   4. EHEthan Hawke45:04

      ... your, your, your whole body just shrivels up, you know. You d- did, you know, "You didn't see the Godard film." "I don't give a shit about the Godard film."

   5. JRJoe Rogan45:12

      (sighs)

   6. EHEthan Hawke45:12

      "There's no way I'm gonna remember those lines."

   7. JRJoe Rogan45:15

      (laughs)

   8. EHEthan Hawke45:16

      But then to, to finish it, I'll say when he wrapped the movie, uh, he was getting... He, you know, said his goodbyes and everything, he was getting in the elevator to leave and I ran out and I said to him, I said, "Hey, listen, you know, you've given so much to this whole project and I know that, but, you know, this whole crew's working for free, right? And could I beg you, would you come in and sing one song for us just, like, just for the crew, for, for me? Is there any way you could do that?" And he said, "Yeah, you got a guitar?" And I said, "I do, I do." So all right, he sat down and he proceeded to tell this elaborate story that I'm sure he's told 1,000 times, but it was such a gift to the room. He sat and told this story about how he met Janis Joplin in the elevator of this very building and we... "And she fucked me about four minutes later."

   9. JRJoe Rogan46:07

      (laughs)

   10. EHEthan Hawke46:07

       "And our..." I played her this song. And he's playing, you know, Busted flat in Baton Rouge.

   11. JRJoe Rogan46:13

       Oh, wow.

   12. EHEthan Hawke46:13

       Waiting for a train, was feeling about as fate- right? And the whole crew, everybody's crying, everybody's so happy. I mean, he was just, he was that giving, um, you know, to, to everybody, and understood what it would mean to this group of young artists, you know. And so, but he wasn't perfect. You know, he was a real dude with real issues and, you know, um, and I loved him.

   13. JRJoe Rogan46:42

       Yeah. He was... Uh, I mean, you think about what he did and all the different songs that he performed and movies he was in and different things that he did, that was an extraordinary life.

   14. EHEthan Hawke46:54

       Yeah. I, I'll stop you one second, but for some re-... You, yeah, I think you'll love this. Apparently the legend Johnny Cash used to say that... You know that song Sunday Morning Coming Down? I woke up Sunday morning with no way to hold my head that didn't hurt and the beer I had for breakfast, it wasn't bad so I had one more for dessert. Great song. Okay. So Johnny Cash had a number one single out of this song and Johnny Cash would tell this story how, um, Kris was flying helicopters offshore oil and he landed in Johnny Cash's front yard with a beer in one hand and the song in the other on his helicopter and said, "Damn it, you gotta listen to my song." And I listened to it and it went straight to number one. That's the story that, you know, Cash would tell. And I asked Kris about it and he said, "Have you ever flown a such and such chopper?" And I said (laughs) , I said, "No, I haven't." He goes, "There ain't no way in hell you can fly that thing with beer in one hand and a cassette in the other."

   15. JRJoe Rogan47:46

       (laughs)

   16. EHEthan Hawke47:47

       He said... That story, I don't know where he came up-

   17. JRJoe Rogan47:48

       (laughs)

   18. EHEthan Hawke47:48

       ... with that story (laughs) . He's just trying to help out my career and make a legend out of me too but, but no, no, I just, I sent it to him via air mail (laughs) , you know.

   19. JRJoe Rogan47:59

       For a person that watches movies, I mean, I've done a small amount of acting but I'm not good at it. For a person who watches movies, there's a thing that happens like a hypnosis when someone is a really good actor, where they become that person. And even though I know it's Ethan Hawke, I know it's fill in the blank, Daniel Day-Lewis, I know who, I know who it is, but it's not them at this moment. They're so good that they've convinced me-

   20. EHEthan Hawke48:31

       (laughs)

   21. JRJoe Rogan48:31

       ... that they're this other person. What is that? Because there are moments where I see a good actor-... and I say, "I don't believe them. I don't... I think they're phoning it in. They're saying it the right way, but there's just something in the air. There's a missing connection." And, it is the key to a great movie.

   22. EHEthan Hawke48:57

       (laughs)

   23. JRJoe Rogan48:57

       The key to a great movie is everybody has to be in that fucking weird zone, that weird zone where you become a different person.

   24. EHEthan Hawke49:07

       You used the essential word in your first sentence, which is hypnosis. And I, I've spent my life studying what you just talked about. And, um, when you're acting with Denzel Washington, the power, and strength, and completeness of his imagination is hypnotizing. And it's an invitation to join him. And a great film is a collective, imaginative experience. When you watch The Godfather, you're not f- fucking thinking about Al Pacino or James Caan-

   25. JRJoe Rogan49:44

       Right.

   26. EHEthan Hawke49:44

       ... or... You think about Michael, and Sonny, and-

   27. JRJoe Rogan49:47

       Right.

   28. EHEthan Hawke49:47

       ... Tom, and, y- you know, Vito. They... I, I remember I watched The Godfather, and I felt like I'd see those guys at the Knick game tomorrow. That's how we... That's how much... You're not thinking about the music, you're not thinking about the shots. You know, it's all one thing. All these disparate elements turn into one fist. You cannot do it alone, right? But the best people I've worked with, it's like... I- i- it... The easiest example to show it, like, for anybody w- when you go to a concert, every now and then it happens, the performer hypnotizes you, and you disappear.

   29. JRJoe Rogan50:24

       Yeah.

   30. EHEthan Hawke50:25

       You d- you're, you're inside those songs.
5. 1:00:00 – 1:15:00

   (laughs) …

   1. EHEthan Hawke1:00:00

      And I spent all day out there with this wolf. And whenever the cameras started thinking I might have a chance of getting to pet him, they would start rolling. And I'd just talk to the wolf and I'd walk around and play, and I just had to try to be real with him. And he started to like me. I'll sh- I'll get... It's not boring. And, and this is, I'm, I'm getting close 'cause he's starting to like me. We've been playing a lot. And he comes over and, okay, you'll see, he, he, he... You'll see him bite me if you want. Um, but, uh, amazing, amazing animal. But the point I'm trying to say is I, we s- I sat out there for 11 hours with this starving wolf. (laughs)

   2. JRJoe Rogan1:00:38

      (laughs)

   3. EHEthan Hawke1:00:38

      Right? Trying to get him to eat. Um-Ready, ready, and... Ouch. Okay. (laughs)

   4. JRJoe Rogan1:00:51

      That wasn't that bad.

   5. EHEthan Hawke1:00:52

      It wasn't that bad, well, it bled, Joe.

   6. JRJoe Rogan1:00:53

      Did it really?

   7. EHEthan Hawke1:00:54

      Yeah. (laughs)

   8. JRJoe Rogan1:00:54

      Sharp teeth. But it didn't look like he was trying to hurt you.

   9. EHEthan Hawke1:00:57

      No, no, he wasn't, he wasn't.

   10. JRJoe Rogan1:00:58

       Right.

   11. EHEthan Hawke1:00:58

       That's what I mean. He, he wasn't, he was... Um... And so, and by the end of the day, check this out, man. I mean, it was one of the most incredible experiences of my life. I know it's a corny kids movie or whatever, but, but, um-

   12. JRJoe Rogan1:01:13

       But it's a real wolf and he doesn't know he's acting.

   13. EHEthan Hawke1:01:15

       Yeah, and he doesn't know he's acting.

   14. JRJoe Rogan1:01:16

       Yeah.

   15. EHEthan Hawke1:01:16

       Right? And so, I gotta be real. And, um, I mean, I wept when that dog died, you know? Um, 'cause... And I think about that scene if, when I'm doing anything, you know, a- about being present.

   16. JRJoe Rogan1:01:34

       Right. And that's a-

   17. EHEthan Hawke1:01:35

       If I'm trying to get the shot, the dog is not gonna eat out of my hand. If I actually wanna say, "Hey, oh, you can trust me."

   18. JRJoe Rogan1:01:42

       Right.

   19. EHEthan Hawke1:01:43

       You know? I'd have to give up for hours, you know, and just sit there and we didn't have a phone. I'd have to sit there and whittle or something and walk over there, toss rocks for a little bit until he got... Y- you know? It was, it was such a fascinating experience.

   20. JRJoe Rogan1:01:57

       Wow. Well, that's... Yeah, you can't act, right? 'Cause he's-

   21. EHEthan Hawke1:02:02

       And you never can.

   22. JRJoe Rogan1:02:03

       ... gonna know.

   23. EHEthan Hawke1:02:03

       You never can.

   24. JRJoe Rogan1:02:04

       You never can.

   25. EHEthan Hawke1:02:05

       You never can.

   26. JRJoe Rogan1:02:06

       Yeah.

   27. EHEthan Hawke1:02:06

       And one of the things about, you know, just a handful, Laurie Metcalf comes to mind, Denzel Washington, Sally Hawkins, Laura Linney. There's a handful, I mean, I could, I... A bunch of them, Philip Seymour Hoffman, there's a lot of great actors I've worked with in my life. And what's so wonderful about them is if you start acting, "What are you doing?"

   28. JRJoe Rogan1:02:28

       (laughs)

   29. EHEthan Hawke1:02:28

       Just this, this kinda, kinda sense, you know, "Why? What are-"

   30. JRJoe Rogan1:02:32

       Yeah.
6. 1:15:00 – 1:17:24

   Right. …

   1. EHEthan Hawke1:15:00

      with the first blush of celebrity. I mean, you wanna talk about negative ta- comments, try being an actor.

   2. JRJoe Rogan1:15:05

      Right.

   3. EHEthan Hawke1:15:05

      Everybody's got an opinion about y- what a-

   4. JRJoe Rogan1:15:08

      Oh, yeah.

   5. EHEthan Hawke1:15:08

      ... fake you are-

   6. JRJoe Rogan1:15:08

      Of course.

   7. EHEthan Hawke1:15:08

      ... or what a phony you are, this is sucks about you, you're ... this is dumb, this is what you're like.

   8. JRJoe Rogan1:15:14

      Yeah.

   9. EHEthan Hawke1:15:14

      Um, you know, i- i- it's ... I have lost m- uh, unbelievable, ridiculous amount of hours to... My mother will send me a really nice review of something, something positive about me. Right? I'll look at it, and my brain goes, "What are the comments?" Nasty. I mean, just the nastiest things, and you can't believe-

   10. JRJoe Rogan1:15:36

       Right.

   11. EHEthan Hawke1:15:36

       ... that some ... But I don't wanna, you know, give it too much time, but I actually think it really makes you stronger to realize, of course people don't like you. It's fine.

   12. JRJoe Rogan1:15:46

       Over time, it will make you stronger.

   13. EHEthan Hawke1:15:47

       It's fine they don't like you. Guess what? Half the people every party you went to didn't like you. Okay? But they're also not thinking very much about you. They're thinking about themselves. And you start to realize that this is just people talking at the barber shop. People have been gossiping their whole ... throughout the history of mankind. Now, you can read it if you want, but it's, it has no, um, venom in it. It, it, it's not real.

   14. JRJoe Rogan1:16:12

       Right.

   15. EHEthan Hawke1:16:13

       And the sooner you learn that other people's opinions don't have to affect you, I, I think the better off you are. So in that way, eh, it'll ... It hurt me. I've seen it happen to actors on ... especially if you're doing stage. I'm sure with comics, it's, it's ... When you're doing a play, and you have to do it every night, and you start reading a lot of bad things that people say about you-

   16. JRJoe Rogan1:16:33

       Mm.

   17. EHEthan Hawke1:16:35

       ... it is, it is demolishing to your-

   18. JRJoe Rogan1:16:38

       Yeah. (laughs)

   19. EHEthan Hawke1:16:38

       ... confidence. Y- you know? I mean, I, I, I had this actor friend of mine. He, we sh- we shared a dressing room, and one day he came in. And he was great in the show, and he came in, and he just, his whole energy was dark. I was like, "You all right?" He goes, "I went down the rabbit hole last night. Just read what people are saying about me on the internet, and everybody thinks I'm terrible in this play." And I'm like, "They don't like your character." You know, like, they're ... people are not so brilliant, you know? They're just ... there's no geniuses out there chiming in on what a jerk you are at 3:00 in the morning.

   20. JRJoe Rogan1:17:13

       Right.

   21. EHEthan Hawke1:17:13

       Okay?

   22. JRJoe Rogan1:17:14

       Right.

   23. EHEthan Hawke1:17:14

       These, these are (laughs) ... t- so you don't have to take it seriously. But, you know, he ... it took him weeks to get his mojo back, 'cause every-

   24. JRJoe Rogan1:17:20

       That's-

   25. EHEthan Hawke1:17:20

       ... he w- would step out on stage just imagining this chorus of hate.

Episode duration: 2:21:57