Maya Hawke Acknowledges How Nepotism Has Helped Her Career, Says She Feels ‘Lucky’

Actress Maya Hawke spoke bluntly about being a “nepo baby” in a new interview with The Times of London last week. The 25-year-old is the daughter of Ethan Hawke and Uma Thurman, and she has seen a meteoric rise to success in recent years – most notably on Netflix’s Stranger Things. She acknowledged that she is “lucky” to have the connections she has, and acknowledges that she wouldn’t have gotten this far this fast without them.

“There are so many people who deserve to have this kind of life who don’t, but I think I’m comfortable with not deserving it and doing it anyway,” Hawke said. She reasoned that it “wouldn’t help anyone” if she simply ignored her connections and didn’t take advantage of them, adding: “I saw two paths when I was first starting, and one of them was: change your name, get a nose job and go to open casting roles.”

The term “nepo baby” has loomed large in social media discourse in recent years, particularly in the entertainment industry. Hawke has been one of the main focuses of it on platforms like TikTok, but she said it’s a form of criticism she is comfortable with. She said: “It’s okay to be made fun of when you’re in rarefied air. It’s a lucky place to be. My relationships with my parents are really honest and positive, and that supersedes anything anyone can say about it.”

Hawke even accepted some responsibility for bringing the “nepo baby” discourse on herself. She referenced a 2019 interview where she assured The Hollywood Reporter that she had auditioned for a role, rather than just getting it handed to her. Last week, she told The Times: “I’ve been wildly made fun of for this clip when I said, on the red carpet, that I auditioned. I never meant to imply that I didn’t get the part for nepotistic reasons – I think I totally did.”

Hawke started out by modeling at age 18, and moved into acting in 2017 on the BBC miniseries adaptation of Little Women. The following year she starred in the independent thriller Ladyworld, but playing Robin Buckley on Stranger Things was her breakout role. In 2019, she also appeared in Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.

Hawke has starred in several more movies over the last few years, including Bradley Cooper’s musical biopic Maestro, Wes Anderson’s Asteroid City, and Disney’s Moon Girl and Dinosaur. She has some huge projects coming up soon, including The Kill Room where she will co-star with her mother, a role in Inside Out 2, and a Billy Wilder biopic called Wilder & Me.

Right now, Hawke is out promoting Inside Out 2, where she plays the voice of Anxiety. The movie hits theaters in the U.S. on Friday, June 14.