For Ethan Hawke, acting alongside Julia Roberts in “Leave the World Behind” was a special experience.
“Like everybody else, I’ve spent years being entertained by her, and she’s an obvious powerhouse,” he gushed to Access Hollywood while discussing their new psychological thriller.
Julia was on double duty as both a star and producer on the movie, and Ethan was impressed by how she balanced both roles.
“I like it when actors produce work they want to make. We all find that inspiring when people kind of take the reins of their own life,” he said. “And I also like that she wielded that power gently. She never wasn’t a part of the company, and that– I like that.”
Julia and Ethan are joined onscreen by Mahershala Ali, and having such great co-stars was a huge part of what drew the Oscar winner to the project.
“That process of coming together, collaborating, [director] Sam [Esmail] leading the way, and always trying to get to who these people are, always trying to bring them to the scene and to the screen, is wonderful having great collaborators in doing that. And so, I had a wonderful time. It’s why you sign up to do it,” he said.
Julia also told Access about the joy of acting with Mahershala and how happy it made her to be on set.
“It was great. As far as just having that creative playground to be in, and knowing that you’re with someone who is going to be so heroic in their efforts of their side of things … For me, every day was such a joy, even when the scenes that we were doing were going to be complicated,” she said. “There might be tears, there might be fears. I just still like I kind of bounced into work every day.”
“Leave the World Behind” hits Netflix on Dec. 8.