Ethan Hawke Starred In ‘Moon Knight’ To ‘Put Food On The Table’ (Like He Describes What Paul Newman Would Do)

Ethan Hawke‘s performance as Arthur Harrow in Marvel’s Moon Knight had a perfectly reasonable and understandable explanation for existing: Oscar Isaac personally asked him at a coffee shop to join the project, and by his own account, Hawke had a fun time getting to play on the “baggage-free set” during the pandemic. Pretty cut and dry, right

Well, in a new interview, Hawke apparently felt the need to further justify starring in a Marvel series, so he invoked the work ethic of legendary actor Paul Newman, who is the subject of Hawke’s new docuseries The Last Movie Stars. According to Hawke, when the Marvel offer came in, he gathered his family to ask for their input.

“I remember I was sitting at my dinner table and I had just been offered ‘Moon Knight’ and I was trying to decide whether to do that or not and my youngest, Indiana, who was 10 at the time, said, ‘Well, Dad, what would Paul do'” Hawke told Insider. From there, the answer was simple:

“Do I think he admired blockbusters and superhero movies No, I don’t,” Hawke said of Newman. “He hated doing ‘Towering Inferno.’ That was his idea of a giant sellout. You see him in physical pain in that movie.”

“But, it’s still a job,” Hawke added. “You still have to put food on the table.”

According to Hawke, who reportedly has a net worth of $55 million, there really wasn’t a choice in the matter. “I am an actor,” he said. “That is how I pay my kids’ medical bills, that’s how I put a roof over our heads. And my job is not to change the world and make it the perfect place. My job is to do good work to the best of my ability.”