Ethan Hawke left Star Wars disappointed that he wasn't a Jedi

There is no denying that movies inspire people. Performances prompt people to pursue a career in acting, effective storytelling leads to a new generation of screenwriters, and good characters make us all wish that we could step into the shoes of our favorite heroes. In Ethan Hawke's case, the draw to the fantastical is particularly strong.

The actor and director, known for projects ranging from Dead Poets Society to Moon Knight, recently participated in a master class at the Venice Film Festival, via Entertainment Weekly. He is known for having collaborated with American filmmaker Richard Linklater. The two have worked on several movies together and Hawke credits their friendship with the "beginning of my adult relationship to movies."

Hawke commented that there is a marked difference between certain experiences he's had:

"If you go see Harry Potter or Star Wars or something, which I've seen a million times, and I love them, but when they are over, I feel slightly disappointed that I'm not a wizard or a Jedi...and I walk through my life thinking, 'I wish I were a Jedi.' And when you see a Richard Linklater film, you walk out feeling, 'Well, I've done that. I've met a person I've connected with another human being, and that was important, and that was magic."

- Ethan Hawke

He feels more grounded in the films of Linklater, which "remind you that it's a miracle that we walk on Earth and that we breathe at all, and that there's whales and giraffes and life is unbelievable if you don't hyperbolize it."

He's commented that "There's certain ways and rules that the universe wants these stories to be told in" so that he adapts his approach to each role. "One of the ways that I could make my work different - in different keys or octaves or whatever - would be to really play with the genres."

It would certainly be interesting to see how Hawke would approach a role within the Star Wars universe and we will look forward to a day when he might be a Jedi.