Ethan Hawke got candid about his “humiliating” divorce from his ex-wife, Uma Thurman.
The actor reflected on the media coverage surrounding their 2004 split with GQ UK in a profile published on Monday.
“It’s almost humiliating even when they’re saying positive things,” he told the outlet, who described their relationship “a result of [Hawke] chasing cinematic enchantment” after they met on the set of the 1997 film “Gattaca.”
When asked why actors fall in love on set, the “Training Day” star responded, “There’s a certain intimacy to the work that we do. Imaginative intimacy.”
The 54-year-old “Dead Poets Society” actor compared said intimacy to playing spin the bottle, adding, “It’s such a high. It feels dangerous and thrilling.”
“It turns the temperature up in your life,” Hawke continued. “It can be like falling in love at summer camp. It doesn’t have any connection to the dailiness of real life. That’s the danger of it.”
One year after meeting, Hawke and Thurman tied the knot. They went on to welcome two children: “Stranger Things” star Maya Hawke, now 27, and son Levon, 23.
However, by 2005, the “Kill Bill” actress filed for divorce amid rumors that Hawke was having an affair with their nanny, Ryan Shawhughes.
Despite denying the allegations, Hawke began dating Shawhughes shortly after their separation.
The couple got married in 2008, and they went on to welcome daughters Clementine, now 17, and Indiana, now 14.
Following their divorce, Thurman refused to badmouth Hawke to the press, telling Parade in 2006, “I cannot participate in anything critical about my children’s father.”
“I just need to keep peace,” the “Pulp Fiction” star told the outlet, per People. “I think it’s fair to say that I haven’t said one mean thing, and I’m not going to start now. It’s terrible for my family.”
After Hawke, Thurman moved on with Arpad Busson, a hedge fund manager.
The two got engaged in 2008 and welcomed daughter Luna four years later. However, they called it quits on their on-again-off-again relationship by 2014.
The “Pulp Fiction” star, 55, was rumored to be dating Bloomberg media exec Justin B. Smith in 2021 and architect Peter Sabbeth the following year.