Iconic actor Ethan Hawke has managed to stay relevant in Hollywood despite the progression of technology and newer generations of audiences running to the theaters. Going along with the change, the actor talked about his first major role in a movie and it was alongside Robin Williams.

Starring in Dead Poets Society, the actor talked about Robin Williams’s off-screen behavior and how he would try to make everyone laugh since he was a comedian. Ethan Hawke stated that since he wanted to be a serious actor, he tried to best to keep a serious face that made Williams try all the more hard and often made Hawke the victim of his jokes!

Robin Williams and Ethan Hawke in Dead Poets Society

Robin Williams Made Ethan Hawke The Victim of His Jokes

Back in 1989, the world of literature changed with the release of Dead Poets Society. With the film being a drama movie, the discussions and the philosophy of “carpe diem” discussed in the movie were indeed quite serious.

Robin Williams

During the shooting of the film, Robin Williams was a person who kept things light-hearted and funny on set. Since this was during the earlier days of Ethan Hawke, the actor wanted to be taken as a serious person. Not laughing at any of Robin Williams’ jokes, Hawke kept a straight face throughout the ordeal which made Williams try even harder to make the actor laugh. In an interview with Graham Norton, the actor talked about his on-set experience with Williams and the funny incident that followed it.

“Well he [Robin Williams] was incredibly funny, right. And he was very relaxed and very inventive and he would get up and he was playing this teacher and he would just improv, constantly. And the more the crew laughed, the more he…he would go”

Hawke continued,

“And I was…I really wanted to be a serious actor. I really really wanted to be in character and I really didn’t wanna laugh. And so, the more I didn’t laugh, the more insane he got. He would make fun ‘Oh, this one doesn’t wanna laugh’ and then more smoke would come out of my ears. He didn’t understand, I was trying to do a good job and so, I thought he hated me”

Well, it wasn’t all bad since Ethan Hawke continued that he got his first Hollywood agent due to his seriousness, and yes, Robin Williams was the one who had helped him get an agent.

Ethan Hawke Got His First Hollywood Agent Due To Robin Williams

Ethan Hawke in Dead Poets Society

During the interview, Hawke further continued that the seriousness and grim face that he tried too hard to keep, did pay off in the end. Stating that after the film’s release, the actor got a call from a person who became his first Hollywood agent and Robin Williams had a part in it.

“And then when the movie was over, I had to go back to school and I got this call and it was from a big Hollywood agent. This guy says ‘I’m Robin Williams’ agent’ and he says ‘You’re gonna be somebody and that I should sign you’ and I was like ‘Really?’ and so he [Robin Williams] got me my first Hollywood agent”

As for the 1989 movie, Dead Poets Society became one of the most iconic and quoted movies of all time. The film received a high rating of 8.1/10 on IMDB and 84% on Rotten Tomatoes. Dead Poets Society is available to stream on Paramount+ Apple TV in the U.S.