A Throwback Tour Through Ethan Hawke and Uma Thurman's Relationship

May 2024 · 4 minute read

Who: Four-time Oscar-nominated actor and screenwriter Ethan Hawke, 47, and Oscar-nominated Quentin Tarantino muse, Uma Thurman, 48.

Fred Hayes/Getty Images

How they met: Uma and Ethan met on the set of the sci-fi thriller Gattaca, which debuted in 1997. They wed in '98 and welcomed daughter Maya that same year. Nearly four years later, Uma delivered a second child, a son named Levon Roan.

When they peaked: Twinning at the SAGs in 2002

The couple that coordinates outfits together doesn't always stay together…but thank goodness for Getty images, which are forever.

SGranitz/Getty Images

Why We Loved Them

It's refreshing to see a man — nay, a movie star — comfortable enough in his masculinity that he's cool walking a red carpet with his much taller wife (note: Uma didn't often opt for flats).

Getty Images

Also, OMG, look at these outfits — how can we not love them for subjecting themselves to such bold early 2000s flair?

Dave Hogan/Getty Images

Aside from that, though, it sounds like things were pretty problematic for the pair, which leads us to…

The breakup:

Though their divorce wasn't finalized until 2005, Ethan and Uma have been separated since 2003. As with most (all?) celebrity breakups, there are many rumors as to why they ultimately split. Tabloids were quick to blame the break on Hawke's infidelity while filming a movie in Montreal, but the actor cleared up the speculation during an interview with 20/20 in 2004, explaining, "Uma and I did not split up over anybody's infidelity. We had a lot of problems before I ever went to Montreal." According to the Training Day star, the true issues in their marriage were borne from their respective stardom.

"You know you'd come up with these rules: 'One person works, the other person doesn't. Well, then somebody's always out of town,'" Hawke explained. "Then I'm living in a hotel room taking care of my kids while you're off on a film set six hours a day doing what you love. Do that for nine months and see what a good mood you're in. I don't know if it's just too hard to be married to a woman that wants to be a movie star. I know that she has that right to want that."

During an interview with Oprah in 2005, Thurman called the all-too-public breakup "excruciating," admitting, "You can move on, and you can be lucky and you can seize the moment and you can take one step after another." That being said, "You bear two children with somebody – that's not a small thing – and then you can hardly talk to them."

Recently, Hawke revealed that after his divorce his "personal life fell apart," a transition that actively distanced him from his industry peers. "I don't know if you feel this way, but when you're depressed, it's really easy to see everything that is fake about other people and life, and I just started seeing all that. How phony celebrity was, how phony everything is," he told GQ, "You channel your inner Holden Caulfield, you know?"

Where they are now:

In 2008, Ethan wed actress Ryan Hawke (née Shawhughes), who happens to be the same actress he was accused of cheating on Uma with on set in Montreal, welcoming daughter Clementine Jane that same year, and daughter Indiana Hawke three years later.

Professionally, Hawke saw a string of successes after his and Thurman's split. Three of the actor and sometimes-screenwriter's four Oscar nominations came from his collaborations with Richard Linklater in the years following his divorce.

Uma, who was previously married to actor Gary Oldman in the early '90s, never married again, but she does share a 6-year-old daughter, Luna, with French financier Arpad Busson (who also has two children from his marriage to model Elle MacPherson).

In addition to her iconic turn as Pulp Fiction's Mia Wallace, Thurman is perhaps best known for her starring role in Tarantino's Kill Bill films. The actress appeared in Down a Dark Hall opposite AnnaSophia Robb and more recently, the drama series Suspicion.

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