Maya Hawke is Hollywood royalty
If Hawke’s name sounds familiar, it’s because she’s got two of the coolest parents in the world: Ethan Hawke and Uma Thurman. But even though her parents are divorced, Hawke remains very close with them. She even collaborated with her parents: on the biopic Wildcat directed by her father and appeared on The Kill Room with her mother.
Maya Hawke has starred in many other projects outside of Stranger Things
While Stranger Things is Hawke’s most famous role, she has appeared in many projects by famous directors. There’s Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, Wes Anderson’s Asteroid City and Bradley Cooper’s Maestro. But most notably, Hawke was the voice of Anxiety in Inside Out 2. Hawke will even join the Hunger Games franchise in 2026, as she will play a young Wiress in the prequel Sunrise on the Reaping.
Maya Hawke was a model first
September 27, 2022 For a Calvin Klein campaign
Photo: @maya_hawke via Instagram
Before she made her big break in acting, Hawke worked as a model first. After all, she comes from a line of fashion models: her mother Uma Thurman, and her grandmother Nena von Schlebrügge, all worked as models. At the beginning of her career, Hawke modelled for Vogue, as well as brands like All Saints and Calvin Klein. She even appeared in video campaigns for Calvin Klein’s underwear collection in 2017, directed by Sofia Coppola.
Maya Hawke made her acting debut in 2017
While she joined the main cast of Stranger Things in 2019, her first acting role was almost Ariel in a live adaptation of The Little Mermaid, but the movie was eventually scrapped in 2015. But the universe had other plans. She made her acting debut as Jo March in BBC’s miniseries adaptation of Little Women, which was positively received.
Maya Hawke is also an indie-folk singer-songwriter
February 19, 2024 at the studio recording music
Photo: @maya_hawke via Instagram
Like some of her Stranger Things castmates, Hawke has also been dabbling in a music career. She has released three albums so far: Blush (2020), Moss (2022) and Chaos Angel (2024) to positive reviews. Her music leans towards acoustic folk music with whispery vocals, and she is heavily inspired by great lyricists like Joni Mitchell, Leonard Cohen and Patti Smith.
Maya Hawke is dyslexic
April 27, 2024 on the set of "Wildcat"
Photo: @maya_hawke via Instagram
Hawke has dyslexia, which she says resulted in her getting kicked out of school. But that didn’t stop her from finding her passion. She attended a school for children with learning difficulties, and always ended up in school plays, where she found she was the happiest. Hawke eventually found her way into Juilliard School, but dropped out after a year after accepting her role in Little Women.
Maya Hawke made her off-Broadway debut
April 11, 2025 performing a monologue from Sarah Ruhl's "Eurydice"
Photo: @maya_hawke via Instagram
Before the final season of Stranger Things aired at the end of 2025, Hawke made her off-Broadway debut as the titular character in Sarah Ruhl’s play Eurydice. Much like the Broadway-favourite musical Hadestown, Eurydice flips the Greek tragedy on its head. Hawke portrays Eurydice as a confused and flawed young woman in a tumultuous relationship with the love of her life, Orpheus. In Ruhl’s version of events, Eurydice also reunites with her father after she was sent to the underworld.
Maya Hawke loves a good striped shirt
Maya Hake is committed to her striped shirts, so much so that she made one of her own for her apparel collection. In an exclusive interview with Vogue Hong Kong, she explains how the striped shirt became her favourite wardrobe staple. “There was a woman I knew when I was 18 who always wore dark navy-blue jeans and a Saint James striped shirt, and I just thought she was so beautiful. She was in her early 70s, and I was like: When I grow up, I wanna look like her. So I just kind of copied her. That shirt will always remain a staple item of my closet, because it’s Parisian, it’s masculine, it’s beachy, and it’s warm, so when isn’t it appropriate to wear a striped Saint James shirt?”
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