Entertainment

Real-Life Celebrity Breakup: Ethan Hawke and Uma Thurman

Published by

Shado Saeyang

5 years ago

Ethan Hawke and Uma Thurman fell in love like a lot of actors before them — while on the set of a movie they were shooting — but their relationship didn’t last.

While it didn’t work in the long run, the former couple did try hard to keep their family together. From how they met to their eventual split, find out more about this once great celebrity romance.

How Did Ethan Hawke and Uma Thurman Meet?

The two actors met on the set of the sci-fi thriller, Gattaca, which they filmed with Jude Law, in 1996. The film was released the following year. The pair started dating right away and fell in love almost instantly. Yet, after two years of dating, she turned down his marriage proposals twice before finally accepting.

The Wedding
The couple decided to marry on May 1, 1998. Thurman had just turned 28 prior to their wedding and Hawke was 27. The actor later revealed he believes he was too young to have gotten married and that his brain wasn’t fully developed enough to commit to someone forever.

Starting a Family
Just two months after getting married, Thurman welcomed the couple’s first child, daughter Maya, on July 8, 1998. The pair then had their second child, son Levon, in 2002. Maya is now an accomplished actress herself and recently appeared in Season 3 of the hit Netflix show Stranger Things.

Parting Ways

After five years of marriage, the couple decided to separate. Hawke reportedly worked out what happened in his co-writing of the film (along with Julie Delpy and Richard Linklater) Before Sunset, in which his character was in a failing marriage with a woman he married because she had become pregnant.

Rumor Mill
Rumors swirled that the couple split because the actor cheated on her with their nanny, but Hawke shut that rumor down. He revealed that infidelity wasn’t their issue, it was the fact that they were both huge stars who couldn’t balance their careers. However, Hawke did end up marrying Ryan Shawhuges, who had worked as their children’s nanny, in 2008.