Maya Hawke says she is ‘comfortable with not deserving’ the kind of life she has

The American actress and singer is the child of Hollywood actors Ethan Hawke and Uma Thurman and said her relationship with them is “positive”, which “supersedes anything anyone can say about it”.

Speaking to The Times, she said: “‘Deserves’ is a complicated word.

“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.

“And I know that my not doing it wouldn’t help anyone.

“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.”

Speaking about the path she chose, she said: “It’s OK 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.”

The 25-year-old is most known for playing Robin in the Duffer brothers Netflix series Stranger Things, about a group of children from the 1980s who find themselves plunged into the world known as the Upside Down.

However, she is also a musician and recently released her third album, Chaos Angel.

Speaking about the moment she realised her gigs were filled with Stranger Things fans she said: “I was almost depressed about it.

“Like, I’m glad there are people here, but I guess they don’t care about the music.”

Hawke also reflected on the teasing she received from comments she made about being cast as Flowerchild, one of Charles Manson’s followers, in the Quentin Tarantino film Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood.

“I’ve been wildly made fun of for this clip when I said, on the red carpet, that I auditioned,” she said.

“I never meant to imply that I didn’t get the part for nepotistic reasons — I think I totally did”, she added.

Hawke, who voices Anxiety in the upcoming Pixar sequel Inside Out 2, starred opposite her mother in the 2023 thriller comedy film The Kill Room and was directed by her father in the drama Wildcat (2023).

She has also starred in Wes Anderson’s Asteroid City (2023) and Do Revenge (2022).