Ethan Hawke's 'Best Actor' Nominated Performance in 'Blue Moon'

Summary

Podcast Summary: All Of It

Episode: Ethan Hawke's 'Best Actor' Nominated Performance in 'Blue Moon'

Host: Alison Stewart (WNYC)
Guest: Ethan Hawke
Date: March 6, 2026

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Overview

In this episode of All Of It, host Alison Stewart interviews actor Ethan Hawke about his Oscar-nominated performance as Lorenz “Larry” Hart in the film Blue Moon. The conversation centers on Hawke’s interpretation of the legendary lyricist during the pivotal opening night party of the revolutionary musical Oklahoma!—the moment when Hart’s partnership with composer Richard Rodgers falters as Rodgers moves on to collaborate with Oscar Hammerstein. The discussion delves deep into Hart’s emotional turmoil, creative struggles, real-time narrative challenges, and Hawke’s process for bringing the character vividly to life.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

Setting the Scene: Lorenz Hart at the Edge of Change

• Historical Context: Hawke describes the opening night as a “party that changed the world,” marking not just a professional loss for Hart, but the end of an era for the Jazz Age songwriting style.
  • Quote: "He, in his whole era, the Jazz Age, is about to fall into oblivion, and all his work is basically going to be rendered irrelevant as something new takes off. Oklahoma, in a strange way, represents the moment America started seeing itself in the third person." (Ethan Hawke, 04:09)

Hart’s Desperate Mission

• Hart’s Motive: That night, Hart’s goal is to win Rodgers back as his artistic partner and pitch a new project (a musical about Marco Polo), hoping to reignite their collaboration and his own sense of purpose.
  • Quote: "I really believe his goal that night is to convince Rogers that he’s a better partner than Oscar...To Rogers, he just says, 'I expect more from you. We can do more.'” (Ethan Hawke, 04:54)

The Challenge of Real-Time Storytelling

• Performing in Real Time: Hawke compares the film’s structure to a carefully arranged sequence of dominoes:
  • Quote: “When you’re making a film in real time... Each domino has to hit the one in front of it... it’s all happening in real time. And the stakes are so high.” (Ethan Hawke, 05:50)
  • Hawke expresses his own "theater nerd" excitement at immersing himself in such an iconic moment.

Hart’s Profound Loneliness

• The Source of Loneliness: Hawke attributes Hart's sadness to deep self-loathing and social barriers (including being gay in a repressive era), made worse by alcoholism:
  • Quote: “He’s lonely because he hates himself. First of all, he sees himself as unworthy of love... At the point we find him, his temporary cure for his loneliness—alcohol—has overshadowed whatever the real pain is.” (Ethan Hawke, 06:54)

Rodgers & Hart: The Complexity of a Creative Breakup

• Dynamic with Rodgers: Hawke and Andrew Scott (Rodgers) aimed to portray the intensity and intimacy of a 25-year partnership collapsing in one night.

  • Creative Breakups: Hawke notes, “Artistic breakups are different than romantic breakups. They’re similar. There’s an intimacy. These guys wrote a thousand songs together... That’s a lot of late nights... That relationship meant a lot to him, but it’s kind of like the ex-wife showing up at your new wedding.” (Ethan Hawke, 08:59)

• Envy vs. Jealousy: Hawke explores the nuance, suggesting Hart feels both envy (of Rodgers' new partnership) and jealousy (fear of losing his own relevance and connection).

  • “It’s complicated for Larry because... He wants something else from his art. Imagine if you were the greatest mandolin player in the world and then you watched Elvis break. And you now know... no one in the world cares how good you are at a mandolin.” (Ethan Hawke, 11:12)

Impossible Romance with Elizabeth

• The Relationship: Hart pursues Elizabeth, a much younger woman (Margaret Qualley), as an emotional distraction—more about escaping pain than genuine hope.
  • Quote: “It's the trauma and pain of losing Richard Rogers is so great... So he creates a new pain... putting all his energy on Elizabeth... it's a pain that feels familiar and controllable, whereas the Richard Rodgers pain is just overwhelming.” (Ethan Hawke, 12:48)

[Notable Scene: Hawke & Qualley as Larry and Elizabeth]

• Timestamp: 14:06–15:33
• Highlights Larry’s desperate need for validation and emotional refuge, and Elizabeth’s practical, somewhat oblivious nature.
• Memorable exchange:
  • Larry: “I got you some flowers. Aw. I’m overwhelmed. I have that effect on people.” (14:25)
  • Elizabeth: “You’re going to introduce me to Richard Rogers, right?” (15:25)
  • Hawke: “He’s so thrilled to use whatever tool he has to get her attention. If that means the carrot of meeting Richard Rogers, fine. You know, he's going to use every card he's got.” (Ethan Hawke, 15:44)

On the Screenplay

• Script’s Verbal Demands: Hawke marvels at the relentless, witty dialogue and the discipline needed to sustain Hart’s energy and intelligence throughout:
  • Quote: “It’s almost like a man who’s put in front of a firing squad, and if he stops talking, he’ll be killed... I giggled through the entire experience of memorizing... Larry’s just delightful to be near, his insights... wicked or silly or whatever, they're so funny and so smart...” (Ethan Hawke, 16:27)
  • Praises the script’s construction: “Sometimes you read a script and the more you work on it, the more it falls apart in your hands... and sometimes... your admiration for it just blossoms because the level of difficulty is so hard.” (Ethan Hawke, 17:38)

Musical Legacy

• Favorite Song:
  • Hawke highlights My Funny Valentine and newly discovered admiration for Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered:
    • Quote: “Stop what you’re doing out there. Put on some headphones. It’s eight minutes long. Listen to Ella Fitzgerald’s version... It's the most amazing piece of writing. It's just, it’s unlike anything in contemporary music.” (Ethan Hawke, 18:09)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Creative Obsolescence:

  • “When the world is kind of... waning out of... that great American songbook work. The musical theater was changing, getting more and evolving for the better in many ways. But it wasn’t what Larry did.” (Ethan Hawke, 11:51)

• On Hart’s Emotional Reality:

  • “They should play this album [Ella Sings Rodgers and Hart] when they have the dictionary, it says 'melancholy.'” (Ethan Hawke, 06:54)

• On the Script’s Wit:

  • “It's built so well. It’s just a phenomenal piece of writing.” (Ethan Hawke, 17:50)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• Introduction and Film Context: 01:29–04:09
• Hawke on Hart’s Relevance Crisis: 04:09–04:50
• Hart’s Goal at the Party: 04:54–05:34
• Acting in Real Time: 05:50–06:47
• The Roots of Loneliness: 06:54–08:26
• Rodgers & Hart’s 25-year Partnership and Breakup: 08:59–10:55
• Envy, Jealousy, and Changing Art: 10:55–12:21
• The Elizabeth Quandary: 12:21–13:55
• Film Clip – Larry & Elizabeth: 14:06–15:33
• Script Craft and Memorization: 16:21–18:04
• On Favorite Songs: 18:09–18:59

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Tone & Style

Throughout, the conversation is candid, passionate, and reflective. Hawke and Stewart bring a mix of intellectual detail and heartfelt empathy to Hart’s struggles. There’s a lively reverence for theater history, a bittersweet ache for bygone genius, and a hard-won appreciation for the artistry shimmering in both Hart’s lyrics and Blue Moon’s script.

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This episode offers a deep exploration of artistic legacy, personal vulnerability, and the pain of change—anchored by Ethan Hawke’s insightful commentary and moving performance in Blue Moon. Perfect for theater lovers, fans of classic songwriting, and anyone curious about the complex lives of artists behind our cultural touchstones.

Transcript

[Narrator/Announcer]

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[Alison Stewart]

This is all of it. I'm Alison Stewart. In the film Blue Moon, ethan Hawke plays Lorenz Hart, the lyricist who worked for years with Richard Rogers, creating songs like Isn't It Romantic and My Funny Valentine. That is, until Rodgers decided to work with Oscar Hammerstein on a little thing called Oklahoma. Hart is watching his work relationship slip away while Rogers and Hammerstein have created a show that he thinks is sappy and for the hoi polloi. That's where we meet him at the opening night party for Oklahoma, where Hart is hurting and finding some comfort in booze again. Here's a clip of Loren's Hart, known as Larry, cornering Richard Rogers at the party. Rogers is played by Andrew Scott. This is from Blue Moon.

[Ethan Hawke]

I remember when I first heard about you, you were just Morty Rogers, little brother. What? You were 17?

[Narrator/Announcer]

16?

[Ethan Hawke]

Yeah, I was 23.

[Alison Stewart]

Well dropped.

[Ethan Hawke]

Yeah, you were the wise old man in the mountain. But when I first heard you play your Stu, I knew you had it. I wasn't entirely convinced that I had it, but I heard something that afternoon. Originality. Melody. Grace. Oh, come on. Come on, Larry, stop it. Come on. What's the matter with you? You worked your whole life for this night, Dick. Nobody's worked harder and Nobody deserves it more. All right, thanks. Excellent. Excellent. All right, all right. That's what I wanted. Just. Just go enjoy your party. Hey, look at me.

[Alison Stewart]

Look at me.

[Ethan Hawke]

We're going to do a Connecticut Yankee. All new.

[Alison Stewart]

Yeah.

[Ethan Hawke]

I'm going to write four or five new songs. I have ideas already, right?

[Alison Stewart]

Yeah.

[Ethan Hawke]

And if I get some pages down from Marco Polo, can I send him over? You have to ask me that, Larry, I owe my professional life to you.

[Alison Stewart]

Hawk is almost unrecognizable in the film. He appears to be 5ft tall, but balding with brown eyes. He really disappears into the role, delivering witticisms and barbs and compliments, some tender, some terribly insincere. He does it all with aplomb in a terrible combover. And you love him. The Motion Picture Academy certainly loved him, which is why they gave him a nod in the Best Actor category at this year's Oscars. The film is also nominated for Best Original Screenplay. Blue Moon takes place almost entirely over one night in 1943. And when he joined us to talk about it, I started by asking Ethan Hawke to tell us what was going on in Lorenz Hart's life and in his head when we meet him in the film.

[Ethan Hawke]

Well, I mean, this is an opening night party that changed the world. You know, I mean, that's what's going on with him, is he's sitting on the edge of a cliff. He, in his whole era, the Jazz Age, is about to fall into oblivion, and all his work is basically going to be rendered irrelevant as something new takes off. You know, Oklahoma, in a strange way, represents the moment America started seeing itself in the third person. And, you know, as Larry says, Oklahoma is nostalgic for a world that never existed, where we're telling ourselves stories that feel good and are flattering but aren't true.

[Alison Stewart]

So what is his goal that night at the party?

[Ethan Hawke]

Well, put simply, I think I really believe his goal that night is to convince Rogers that he's a better partner than Oscar. You know, to present him this idea of this musical, Marco Polo, and to give himself life back to, as he says to. To Rogers. He just says, I expect more from you. We can do more. It's not that he doesn't like Oklahoma. He just expects more from a genius like Rogers. So I think his dream is if he can just stay sober long enough to convince Rogers that obviously he should join, come back and work with me.

[Alison Stewart]

What was challenging, sustaining a character in sort of a real time narrative. This is 90 minutes. It's like 90 minutes at a party, 90 minutes in the life of Loren's heart. What was hard for you or challenging for you to sustain that?

[Ethan Hawke]

Well, it's like this. It's like, you know, have you ever seen those really complicated dominoes where they line them up and they make a shape as you knock them down when you're making a film in real time. Like, you watch me walk into that party and by the time you leave the party, you know, I'm gonna be dead it all. Each domino has to hit the one in front of it. It's not a movie that's gonna be made in the editing room when they can't rearrange the scenes. It's can't. You can't cut out one part of the performance or shave it. It's. It's all happening in real time. And the stakes are so high. Yeah, I mean, first of all, just the idea. I would so love to be able to go to the 1943 and attend the opening night party of Oklahoma. And man, no, I'm a theater nerd. But it would thrill me to no end. So to be able to invite the audience into this moment, that's the spell that the movie's trying to capture or throw or cast, whatever the right word is.

[Alison Stewart]

Well, we get a sense that Larry is, you know, he's going through tough times. Emotionally, he's a little bit lonely. What's the cause of his loneliness?

[Ethan Hawke]

A little bit lonely. I mean, if you listen to the Rogers and Hart songbook, which is staggering. And I highly recommend, if anybody has any interest, Ella Fitzgerald's double album, Ella Sings Rogers and Hart, it's just phenomenal. And there's something. It should. This. They should play this album. When they have the dictionary, it says melancholy. They should just play this album. It's the definition of bittersweet. It's so funny, it's so smart, it's so alive and it's so deeply sad and lonely. And a lot of that comes from these lyrics of Lorenz Hart. The lady is a Tramp, My Funny Valentine. You know, you mentioned a handful. Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered. They're heartbreaking and they're funny. So why is he lonely? He's lonely because he hates himself. First of all, he sees himself as unworthy of love. And what started that? I don't know. You know, the part of the. At the point we find him, his temporary cure for his loneliness. Alcohol has overshadowed whatever the real pain is, you know, whether it's being gay. In a time in America when it was Illegal. Whether it's the fact that he knows the wellspring of his talent is drying up, whether I don't. It's a lot of things now that are now totally overshadowed by the alcoholism.

[Alison Stewart]

Yeah, we're talking to Ethan Hawke about his new film Blue Moon, about the life and career of Lorenz Hart. You know, Roger, Richard Rogers remains pretty gracious and he wants to keep working with his friend, but he wants him to be his work friend. He wants him to show up on time, to show up not drunk. How did you and Andrew Scott, who plays Richard Rogers, how did you develop sort of a dynamic of we're going to be friends but I'm wary of you, Larry?

[Ethan Hawke]

Well, it's kind of like we're seeing this 25 year relationship in the last conversation they ever had. It was a real challenge to try to fit all the feelings we wanted, to fit all the emotions that we wanted to be alive and in the present moment without exposition. You know, a normal biopic would show you when they first met and show you their first hit song and show you when they won their award and show you when they're on the COVID of Time magazine and then show you the 15 times he showed up drunk. But we're just getting to see them on this last conversation. And it. One of the things that was important to Andrew, we know a lot about. I mean, the two of us have been involved in the theater and artistic life our whole lives. And artistic breakups are different than romantic breakups. They're similar. There's an intimacy. These guys wrote a thousand songs together. I mean, they wrote so much music. That's so many late nights sharing your innermost thoughts, trying to get at something real, talking about what their relationships, their fathers are like, what their relationships to the lovers are like. That's a lot of nights drinking and carousing at burlesque houses. I mean, if you see interviews with Richard Rogers late in his life, he's, he is powerfully angry about the end of their relationship. And he's full of so much love and humor. When he talks about the beginning, it's very moving. The relationship meant a lot to him, but it's kind of like, I don't know if you. What Andrew and I thought about. It's kind of like the ex wife showing up at your new wedding and wanting, wanting them to thrive and be good and wanting this breakup to be good for both of them, you know, and it's not going to be okay for Larry.

[Alison Stewart]

Yeah, it's interesting because it kind of Sent me to the dictionary. Is it envy or is it jealousy? When I looked up the two, like, you know, envy is when a person wants what someone else has, but jealousy is when you fear losing what you have to a third party. And I thought maybe it's both.

[Ethan Hawke]

Yeah, it's. And I also think it's complicated for Larry because I think he's seeing it's not just Richard Rogers fault and it's not just his alcoholism. He wants something else from his art and what. It's kind of like. I likened it to this. Imagine if you were the greatest mandolin player in the world and then you watched Elvis break. And you now know in the days following that no one in the world cares how good you are at a mandolin.

[Alison Stewart]

Yeah.

[Ethan Hawke]

And your whole life has been dedicated to something that people think is antiquated and how difficult that would be because you want to be. Hey, guys, we. Don't you remember the mandolin? It's amazing. Check out this amazing mandolin solo. And when the world is kind of lose is. Is. Is waning out of what their. That great American songbook work. The musical theater was changing, getting more and evolving for the better in many ways. But it wasn't what Larry did.

[Alison Stewart]

Yeah. You know, he starts to cling to the hope of a relationship with a woman named Elizabeth, a much younger girl, a college girl half his age, played by Margaret Qualley. She's just bee's knees. She's exc.

[Ethan Hawke]

I know she did.

[Alison Stewart]

What does the sort of. It's an impossible romance, really. But what does it reveal about his character? Him wanting to be with Elizabeth? Whatever Bea is.

[Ethan Hawke]

Yeah, whatever Bea meant to Larry, she might have represented to him the idea of a 1943 quote unquote normal relationship. If he could just carry off something, maybe that would change people's perception of him. And maybe she. Her beauty was staggeringly inspiring to him. Maybe he really did love her poetry. But more what I came to see is it reminded me of someone self cutting that. It's the trauma and pain of losing Richard Rogers is so great and so significant, it's almost like a lance to his chest. And if he looks at it, he knows he's going to die. So he creates a new pain. He kind of starts, you know, putting all his energy on Elizabeth. And that's a pain. I think he's smart enough to know this relationship is never going to work out, but it's a pain that feels familiar and uncontrollable, whereas the Richard Rogers pain is just overwhelming.

[Alison Stewart]

Well, let's listen to another clip from Blue Moon. This is Ethan Hawke and Margaret Qualley as Larry and Elizabeth When Elizabeth shows up at the party.

[Ethan Hawke]

Elizabeth.

[Narrator/Announcer]

Larry.

[Ethan Hawke]

My irreplaceable Elizabeth.

[Narrator/Announcer]

I'm so happy to see you. Do you like the hair?

[Ethan Hawke]

I love it. It's much better than the red, I think. I mean, I like the red, too, but this is much more otherworldly.

[Narrator/Announcer]

I have to go set up for the party. No, no, no, no.

[Ethan Hawke]

I got you some flowers. Aw. I'm overwhelmed. I have that effect on people.

[Narrator/Announcer]

I have so much to tell you. Like what I've been writing in my journal again.

[Ethan Hawke]

I hope you let me read it. No, no, no, no. The big one.

[Narrator/Announcer]

And these are what Richard Rogers is getting. Larry.

[Ethan Hawke]

What?

[Narrator/Announcer]

My mother would die if she saw this. With your permission.

[Ethan Hawke]

Permission granted.

[Narrator/Announcer]

That guy I told you about, Cooper. It finally happened. Yes, on my birthday. The night of my 20th birthday. Pretty dramatic, actually. You could write a play about it.

[Ethan Hawke]

A musical. He has risen, Larry. It's an Easter musical. It. It's very religious.

[Narrator/Announcer]

Let me clarify by saying it almost happened.

[Ethan Hawke]

Clarify immediately.

[Narrator/Announcer]

I'm gonna tell you the whole thing.

[Ethan Hawke]

No, no. I demand to know the shorthand version. Now.

[Narrator/Announcer]

The shorthand version.

[Alison Stewart]

Okay.

[Narrator/Announcer]

The skin on his back was flawless. Gotta run. You're going to introduce me to Richard Rogers, right?

[Alison Stewart]

It's so interesting because she's practical in many ways. She's not evil. She really wants to meet Richard Rogers. How does Larry respond to that?

[Ethan Hawke]

I don't know. You can imagine, right? I mean, I.

[Alison Stewart]

So sad.

[Ethan Hawke]

I've spent half my life meeting, you know, actors and stuff, and we're having a nice time, and they say, are you going to introduce me to Linkletter?

[Alison Stewart]

You know,

[Ethan Hawke]

like, you know, I mean, we all know that feeling. I think he's so thrilled to use whatever tool he has to get her attention. If that means the. The carrot of meeting Richard Rogers, fine. You know, he's going to use every card he's got.

[Alison Stewart]

What did you like about the script? What was unique about the script, which was written by Richard Kaplow?

[Ethan Hawke]

Well, listen, you know, the. My character does not stop talking. He. It's almost like a man who's put in front of a firing squad. And if he stops talking, he'll be killed. I mean, that's how I felt about it. And so it was an unbelievable amount of verbiage to have to memorize. But I giggled through the entire experience of memorizing. I would be sitting there running lines to myself, just cackling at me being a Coffee shop looking like a lunatic as I just because he's so smart, you know, And I've been lucky enough. One time in my life I did this play, the coast of Utopia and got to spend nine months in a rehearsal room with Tom Stoppard. And when you're in the presence of a world class mind with a world class wit, it is so delightful. And Larry's just delightful to be near his insights, whether they're wicked or silly or whatever, they're so funny and so smart that I would. It was just so enjoyable in the. The screenplay is so disciplined. It's so precise. It's built so well. It's just a phenomenal piece of writing. And you know, as actors, we have this thing. Sometimes you read a script and the more you work on it, the more it falls apart in your hands. You just wait, that doesn't make sense. Why would she say that then? And then sometimes you work on something in your admiration for it just blossoms because the level of difficulty is so hard. And to capture Rogers and Hart on this night, it's like I just hats off to Robert Kaplo.

[Alison Stewart]

You're a musician. What song do you really like that they wrote

[Ethan Hawke]

My funny Valentine. You know, my funny Valentine is one of my absolute favorites. But I didn't know Bewitched, bothered and bewildered. And I promise you stop what you're doing out there. For find time. Put on some headphones. It's eight minutes long. Listen to Ella Fitzgerald's version. Listen to any version, but I love Ella's. And close your eyes and it's like a little play. It's the most amazing piece of writing. It's just, it's. It's unlike anything in contemporary music. And I want to, you know, I have all these young people in my life and I want to send all these popular musicians. I'm like, please, please listen to the Rogers book. These lyrics can be better, you guys.

[Alison Stewart]

That was Ethan Hawke talking about playing Loren's heart in the film Blue Moon. Hawke is nominated for best actor at this year's Academy Awards. If you want to hear more of our conversations with Oscar nominees ahead of the awards, make sure to tune in. Next week we'll talk to the star and director of the Brazilian political drama the Secret Agent. We'll hear from co writer and director Chloe Zhao about Hamnet, her take on the life of William Shakespeare. Actor Rose Byrne will talk about playing a mother in over her head in the film If I had legs, I kick you and if you like sinners, we'll hear about it from stars Miles Caton and Delroy Lindo. That's all coming up next week. Those films have all been nominated at this year's Academy Awards. The ceremonies will be held on the evening of Sunday, March 1st 15th. We have more all of it on the way. Coming up, your opinions about the best karaoke songs. We want to know what makes some songs better than others and whether you have ever actually heard good singing at a karaoke bar. That's next, right after the news.

[Ethan Hawke]

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