On Oct. 24, Ethan Hawke returns to the world of science fiction for the first time since his 1985 motion-picture debut, “Explorers.” And he’s doing it in style, with “Gattaca,” the most thought-provoking genre outing to come down the intergalactic pike in eons.
“I’m definitely doing sci-fi, but I’m doing sci-fi in the purest sense, in the way I like best,” Hawke says of “Gattaca” during a conversation at Sony Pictures’ Manhattan headquarters. He stars with Uma Thurman, Jude Law, Loren Dean and Alan Arkin.
“I like sci-fi stories and movies based around individuals and ideas, the old Ray Bradbury stories like `The Martian Chronicles’ and other things like `Brave New World, not movies based on a showcase of gadgets. Sci-fi, when you use the phrase now, usually means something different.
“Look, there’s not a gun in this entire movie, which I know the advertising people wouldn’t like me to announce.”
Hawke smiles.
“If you wanted to make sure this movie really made some money, you’d just ask Uma to take her top off and have me carry two guns all the time,” says the 26-year-old actor. “You’d sell a lot of tickets, but that’s too easy.
“We’re all drawn to it. I am too. `Ooh, somebody’s killing somebody. That’s interesting.’ But `Gattaca’ operates at a whole different level.”
The film, directed by New Zealand-born rookie Andrew Niccol, unfolds in the 21st Century, when most parents turn to genetic engineering to custom design perfect children, called Valids. Those children born naturally, dubbed In-Valids, are rife with flaws and destined to become society’s castaways.
Vincent Freeman (Hawke) refuses to accept his lot in life as an In-Valid, and assumes the identity of a paralyzed Valid, Jerome (Law), in order to achieve his dream of manning a rocket flight into space.
When the mission director turns up in a puddle of blood, Vincent must duck the authorities (Arkin and Dean), deal with his girlfriend (Thurman) and hope his cover isn’t blown before his mission’s launch date.
“I’ve always been nervous about change. But `Gattaca’ is a humanist story, and that’s the aspect I responded to,” says Hawke, who’s best known for such films as “Dead Poets Society” (1989), “Beyond Sunrise” (1994) and “Reality Bites” (1994).
“It’s very rare for a young actor to be presented a part that has virtually any complexity. Vincent has so much going on. He’s a fraud, a total fraud. You want him to say, `Accept me for who I am or don’t take me at all.’ But they wouldn’t take him. What I like about Vincent is that his ambition and drive aren’t based on getting acknowledgement from anybody else.
“What he’s after is proof of his own self-worth.”
Hawke reports that he enjoyed shooting “Gattaca,” particularly working with his co-stars. In fact, he and Thurman fell in love during the production.
The film’s timeliness factor couldn’t be higher, given the recent birth of Dolly, the cloned sheep, and the moviegoing public’s voracious appetite for sci-fi.
Still, “Gattaca” is the thinking person’s sci-fi outing, shot for just $14 million, and it remains to be seen if the audience that transformed “Independence Day” (1996) and “Men in Black” (1997) into blockbusters will queue up for “Gattaca.”
Hawke, who will soon be seen in a “Great Expectations” remake and “The Newton Boys,” a Western-comedy directed by Richard Linklater (“Before Sunrise”) admits that he’s concerned about “Gattaca’s” box office prospects.
“Talking with people who have seen it, I’ve gotten such a mix of reactions,” he says. “Some people go, `God, I loved this movie,’ and compare it to `Fahrenheit 451′ or `2001: A Space Odyssey.’
“Others, I can just tell didn’t like it at all. It’s like, `Is Uma nice?’ It’s a really good movie, and I’m proud of it. I hope it gets seen now, but if it doesn’t, there’s cable and video.
“I have a feeling `Gattaca’ will be very well regarded down the line.”
