Ethan Hawke Still Chases the 'Thrill' of Robin Williams Scene

Ethan Hawke took time out from the Toronto International Film Festival Thursday to remember his mentor, the late Robin Williams.

Prompted by a question from CBC radio host Jian Ghomeshi, the 43-year-old actor said, “First off, I feel there is an immediate sadness that is pervasive in the whole community when somebody who made all of us so happy reveals themselves to have been in tremendous personal pain. The happiness wasn’t reciprocal — that we didn’t make him happy.”

Hawke, went on to share that Williams, who died one month ago, got him his first agent (who remains with Hawke to this day). Williams made the call and recommended Hawke. “I owe that to him. That’s how I got White Fang.”

But more importantly, Hawke emphasized that Williams was responsible for inspiring in him a much deeper love of acting — an intensity on set that matched their onscreen mentor-student relationship. Citing a memorable moment in Dead Poets Society when Williams emboldens him to “yawp,” Hawke said, “It was the first time I ever experienced the thrill of acting, the thrill of losing yourself… I’ve chased my whole life since that day with Robin is this way of losing yourself — where you lose yourself inside a story, a story that’s in service of something that’s way beyond you.”

Hawke acknowledged, however, that even back when the 1989 film was made, he could tell Williams was struggling. “The other truth, even at 18, it was obvious he was in a tremendous amount of pain… Anybody who was watching knew.”

See the scene that inspired Hawke so deeply: VIDEO