Maya Hawke

**Maya Ray Thurman-Hawke** (born July 8, 1998) is an American actress and model, who portrays Robin Buckley in the third and fourth seasons of the Netflix original series *Stranger Things* and its tie-in podcast *Rebel Robin: Surviving Hawkins*. She is the daughter of Uma Thurman and Ethan Hawke.

## Early Life

Maya Hawke was born on July 8, 1998, in New York City, the older of two children born to actors Ethan Hawke and Uma Thurman. Her parents met on the set of *Gattaca* (1997), married in May 1998, and divorced in 2005. She has a younger brother, Levon Roan Thurman-Hawke (born January 15, 2002). She also has two half-sisters by her father's second wife, Ryan Shawhughes. She has another half-sister from her mother's ex-fiancé, financier Arpad Busson.

On her father's side, Hawke is a distant cousin of playwright Tennessee Williams. On her mother's side, she is a granddaughter of Buddhist scholar Robert Thurman and model Baroness Nena von Schlebrügge. Schlebrügge's mother, Birgit Holmquist, was also a model, having posed for Axel Ebbe's statue *Famntaget*, currently in Smygehuk in Sweden.

She has dyslexia, which resulted in her changing schools frequently during her primary education before she was finally enrolled at Saint Ann's School, a private school in Brooklyn, New York that emphasizes artistic creativity and does not grade work. The artistic environment eventually led her to acting. Hawke also took part in summer studies at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London and the Stella Adler Studio of Acting in New York. She studied toward a BFA in acting at the Juilliard School for one year before dropping out after accepting her role in *Little Women*.

## Career

### Modeling

Like both her mother and grandmother, Maya Hawke modeled for *Vogue* at the beginning of her career. She was also chosen as the face of the British fashion retailer AllSaints's 2016/2017 collection. In 2017, she starred as one of several faces in a video campaign for Calvin Klein's underwear range, directed by Sofia Coppola.

### Acting

Maya Hawke was Sofia Coppola's choice to play the title role of *The Little Mermaid* in Universal Pictures's planned live-action adaptation. However, the producers preferred the better-known Chloë Grace Moretz. This and other conflicts ultimately led to Coppola leaving the project. However, Moretz eventually dropped out as well.

In 2017, Hawke made her acting debut as Jo March in the BBC miniseries adaptation of *Little Women*.

In 2019 Maya Hawke auditioned for Robin Buckley in *Stranger Things 3* alongside Nicole Coughlin. Though Coughlin didn't get the role, Hawke successfully earned the part. Hawke spent the majority of season 3 on *Stranger Things* working alongside with Joe Keery, who played as Steve Harrington. Robin was first seen in the television series at a shopping Centre named Starcourt Mall, where she works as a ice cream parlor with Steve Harrington. Through-out the movie she helps the others defeat evil monsters.

Also that summer, she played Linda Kasabian in Quentin Tarantino's film, *Once Upon a Time in Hollywood*.

In October 2018, it was announced that Hawke will star in Gia Coppola's sophomore film, *Mainstream*.

She appears as Heather in the Netflix horror film *Fear Street Part One: 1994*, which was released in July 2021.

In October 2021, she was cast in Wes Anderson's upcoming film, *Asteriod City*.

In April 2022, she joined Bradley Cooper's biographical film about Leonard Bernstein, *Maestro*.

In May 2022, she joined with her mother, Uma Thurman and Samuel L. Jackson in a upcoming crime thriller film, *The Kill Room*.

### Music

In August 2019, Hawke released her first two singles, "To Love a Boy" and "Stay Open". The songs were written and recorded by Hawke and Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter Jesse Harris. Hawke performed a series of headlining gigs around New York City in early 2020, her first ever solo live performances as a musician. In each of these shows, Hawke was supported by Benjamin Lazar Davis, Tōth, Will Graefe and Nick Cianci respectively. On March 18, 2020, Hawke released the first single "By Myself" and announced her debut album titled *Blush*. The album's second single, "Coverage", was released on April 22, 2020, before its music video directed by Maya's father Ethan Hawke was released on the 28th. Initially set for release on June 19, 2020, *Blush* was delayed to August 21, 2020 amid the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests. Hawke wrote, "I feel like this is not a time for self-promotion. It is a time for activation, education and self-examination."[*better source needed*] To support the release of *Blush*, Hawke appeared as a musical guest for the first time in her career on *The Today Show* in late August 2020.

## Personal Life

Hawke came out as queer in a *Vogue* interview.

## Filmography

### Television

 2018
 2019-
 2022
 2023

### Podcasts

 *The Playboy Interview* | Helen Gurley Brown

## Trivia

* Maya is the daughter of Uma Thurman and Ethan Hawke.
* Maya played Linda Kasabian in Quentin Tarantino's film *Once Upon a Time in Hollywood*.
* Maya has dyslexia.
* As well as an actress, Maya is also a musician, model and aspires to be a director.
* She has a younger brother, Levon Roan Thurman-Hawke.
	+ He appears extremely briefly in Season Four as a customer to his sister's character's work place.
* She also has two half-sisters (born in 2008 and 2011) by her father's second wife, Ryan Shawhughes.
* She has another half-sister (born in 2012) from her mother's ex-fiancé, financier Arpad Busson.
* She loves Billie Eilish.
* She loves *Avatar: The Last Airbender* and always wanted her superpowers to be waterbending.
* She's a giant *Harry Potter* fan and she thinks she's a Hufflepuff/Ravenclaw mix.
* Maya's favorite Disney movie is *Cinderella*. Her favorite movie of all time is Robert Altman's *Nashville* and her favorite TV show of all time is *Grey's Anatomy*.
* Her favorite ice cream flavor is mint chocolate chip, but she likes "anything with rainbow sprinkles."
* Maya's favorite books of all time are *Harry Potter*, *Anna Karenina*, and *Housekeeping*.
* She would really love to travel to Japan or South America in the future.
* She said that she's proud to play a LGBTQ character in *Stranger Things* as she plays Robin.
	+ Coincidentally, Maya came out as queer in 2022 during a *Vogue* Interview.

## References

1. ↑ IMDB
2. ↑ "Maya Hawke Comes Out As Queer: 'There’s Something About The Word Queer That Feels Really Good To Me'". *SDLGBTN*. September 26, 2022.