Ethan Green Hawke (born November 6, 1970) is an American actor, writer and film director. He landed his first feature role in the movie Explorers in 1985 opposite River Phoenix. He then appeared in a supporting role in the drama Dead Poets Society (1989), which was considered to be Hawke's break-through role. He appeared in such films as White Fang (1991), A Midnight Clear (1992), and Alive (1993) before taking a role in the 1994 Generation X drama Reality Bites, for which he received critical acclaim. In 1995, he starred in Richard Linklater's film Before Sunrise. Hawke followed this by starring in the 1998 films The Newton Boys and Great Expectations.

Hawke played the title role in Michael Almereyda's Hamlet (2000). The following year he was cast in a supporting role in the film Training Day (2001), for which he received a Screen Actors Guild and Academy Award nomination in the category for Best Supporting Actor. Since then, his films have included the science fiction Gattaca (1997), the Before Sunrise sequel Before Sunset (2004), the action thriller Assault on Precinct 13 (2005), the political crime Lord of War (2005) and the crime drama Before the Devil Knows You're Dead (2008).

Hawke has also appeared in numerous theater productions including The Seagull, Henry IV, The Cherry Orchard, The Winter's Tale and The Coast of Utopia, for which he received a Tony Award nomination. He made his directorial debut with the 2002 independent feature Chelsea Walls. In November 2007, Hawke directed his first play, the two-act Things We Want. Aside from acting, he has written two novels, The Hottest State (1996) and Ash Wednesday (2002).