Ethan Hawke was aware of co-star Robin Williams’ mental health struggles on the set of 1989’s Dead Poets Society, saying he was cognizant of “the complexity of his emotional life.”
In an interview with CBS Sunday Morning, Hawke recalled an incident when he first noticed Williams’ vulnerability.
“I remember, once, he was making up lines, and everybody’s laughing and everybody’s praising him, and I went to get a glass of water, get a bagel or something, and I saw him hiding in a little corner, just hiding in the dark, by himself,” said Hawke. “And I [go], ‘Oh, OK.’ It makes a lot more sense to me now, actually. It was a lot; it was taxing. There’s a lot of stories about clowns and the happiness that they give and at what cost.”
The four-time Oscar-nominated actor, 55, starred with Williams in Dead Poets Society in 1989, when Hawke was just 18. He says his view of Williams has not “fundamentally changed” when he rewatches the classic.
“When I watch the movie, I think of the spirit of the man that I knew on those days and how powerful it was and how much he weathered that storm of his own psyche for us and for other people,” Hawke said. “I admire him tremendously,” adding, “the end of his life does not define his life to me.”
Williams died by suicide in August 2014, amid a struggle with depression and Lewy body dementia. He was 63.
Hawke added that he’s seen depression within his own family, saying, “It was obvious to me that all that power and that charisma came at a certain cost. [Williams was] a deeply, deeply sensitive person, who was highly attuned to the energy of a room.”
Hawke’s remarks come during a press tour for Richard Linklater’s Blue Moon, for which the actor has gained critical acclaim. The film is his ninth collaboration with Linklater.
