Ethan Hawke says memorizing lines for Blue Moon 'broke my brain'

Ethan Hawke has opened up about the grueling preparation behind his Oscar-nominated performance as Broadway lyricist Lorenz Hart in Richard Linklater’s Blue Moon.

The 55-year-old actor, who received his fifth Academy Award nomination this year, told People that the sheer volume of lines in the film “broke my brain.”

“I had more lines on my first day of filming Blue Moon than I probably had in 10 years combined,” Hawke said. “It was just a staggering amount of verbiage. And I have a lot of pride in that. I feel like I’m good at it… but it broke my brain.”

Hawke described the preparation as akin to being “fired from a cannon.” 

The Robert Kaplow-penned film unfolds in real time on a single set, a New York City bar on one night in 1943, near the Broadway premiere of Oklahoma! leaving the actor with little room for error.

“I needed to know the whole movie like a play, without the six weeks of rehearsal for a play that you would have,” he explained. “It was hours of memorizing, just repetition over and over again.”

Despite the intensity, Hawke said the process “never felt like a job” and marked his ninth collaboration with director Richard Linklater, with a tenth project already in the works. 

“We’ve been pushing each other and driving each other for 30 years,” he said. “We’ve made films that are really meaningful to us. And when other people like them, it feels tremendous.”

Hawke’s nomination this year is his first for Best Actor and fifth overall, following past nods for his supporting work in Training Day 2001 and other projects that have also recognized his screenwriting. 

Reflecting on the nominations announcement on Jan. 22, Hawke recalled, “I was fast asleep. I told my wife to wake me up if I’m nominated and to not wake me up if I wasn’t.”

“It was a wash of gratitude,” he said of the nomination. “It’s hard—my brain, the way it works, is I can’t help but think about the actors that I know who did great work that weren’t nominated.”

Blue Moon also stars Margaret Qualley, Bobby Cannavale, and Andrew Scott. Hawke’s upcoming projects include the films Tonight at Noon and The Weight, as well as reprising his acclaimed role in the FX drama The Lowdown for its second season.

The 2026 Oscars, hosted by Conan O’Brien, will air Sunday, March 15, at 7 p.m. ET on ABC and Hulu.