Russell Crowe and Johnny Depp 'broke' Peter Weir, says Ethan Hawke on director's retirement
Actor Ethan Hawke has suggested that Russell Crowe and Johnny Depp are partly responsible for the acclaimed director Peter Weir going into retirement. Hawke, who worked with the Australian director in the iconic 'Dead Poet's Society', in a recent interview with IndieWire was asked why the director, who’s set to receive an honorary Oscar, hasn’t made a film since 2010’s 'The Way Back'
“I think he lost interest in movies,” said Hawke. “He really enjoyed that work when he didn’t have actors giving him a hard time. Russell Crowe and Johnny Depp broke him.”
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Crowe was the star of Weir’s 2003 period epic 'Master And Commander: The Far Side Of The World'. On the other hand, Depp was set to star in a film adaptation of 'Shantaram' by Gregory David Roberts, but Weir left the project before it started in 2014. A spokesperson for Warner Bros said at the time, “Peter moved on from this film because his interpretation of it differed greatly than that of the studio and producers.”
Weir retired from the industry after majorly contributing to the Australian New Wave Cinema movement. He has also directed iconic movies like 'The Truman Show'. Weir is well known for making Oscar-winning movies after starting his career by making films, documentaries and TV shows in his native Australia.
Ethan Hawke talked about Weir while promoting his upcoming HBO docuseries 'The Last Movie Stars' that features Martin Scorsese, George Clooney, Sally Field, Laura Linney among others.
Hawke, who hasn’t worked with Weir since 1989’s 'Dead Poet Society', appeared doubtful about the possibility of future collaborations with the director.
“He’s someone so rare these days, a popular artist,” Hawke explained. “He makes mainstream movies that are artistic."
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“I think Harrison Ford and Gerard Depardieu were his sort of actors,” he added, referring to the stars of Weir films 'Witness' and 'Green Card'. “They were director-friendly and didn’t see themselves as important.”