Ethan Hawke has recalled an audition with Robert Redford for A River Runs Through It that he says stung in the moment and shaped his career in the long run. Speaking in the days after Redford’s death at 89, Hawke described showing up in the early 1990s so starstruck he had to excuse himself and return the next day. Redford, he said, gave him a second shot, then told him plainly he was “too young” for the role but predicted he would have a meaningful career. Hawke called Redford “one of the heroes of my life,” crediting the director’s candor for softening the blow.
Hawke said the honesty came with unexpected encouragement: a few months later, Redford slipped into a small New York theater to see him on stage and offered more advice backstage. The two stayed in touch, and Hawke later saw how Redford’s ecosystem nurtured younger filmmakers when his own breakout romance Before Sunrise played Sundance in 1995. Hawke shared the story during a late-night appearance on September 24, reflecting on the peculiar mix of rejection and mentorship that can define an actor’s early years.
A River Runs Through It, released in 1992 and adapted from Norman Maclean’s novella, was Redford’s elegy to family and landscape, with Craig Sheffer and Brad Pitt cast as the Maclean brothers and Tom Skerritt as their minister father. The Montana-shot drama became a touchstone of Redford’s directing career and a showcase for Pitt, while securing a cinematography Oscar for Philippe Rousselot. Hawke’s account adds a casting-room footnote to the film’s lore: a near miss that he says hurt to hear but felt right on the merits.
Hawke also shared a lighter memory: Redford’s joking final words to him—advice about avoiding a cowboy hat—delivered with the same disarming warmth that framed their first meeting. In Hawke’s telling, that combination of tough truth and generosity modeled how gatekeepers can influence artists without promising them the job. The anecdote, first reported following Redford’s passing, has circulated widely as colleagues trade stories about the late actor-director’s knack for spotting talent while insisting on fit.
