Ethan Hawke

Even though he exhibited star-making potential in films like "Dead Poets Society" (1989) and "Reality Bites" (1994), actor Ethan Hawke chose instead to be something of a Gen-X Renaissance Man, starring in offbeat movies, publishing modestly-acclaimed novels, directing artsy independent films and even forming his own Manhattan-based theater company. Though he did make occasional forays into pricey studio films like "Gattaca" (1997), "Great Expectations" (1998) and "Training Day" (2001), Hawke was more at home pursuing his artistic ambitions for art's sake, not for large pay days or widespread recognition. Perhaps nowhere was this more apparent than his several collaborations with director Richard Linklater, with whom the actor most notably starred in "Before Sunrise" (1995), "Waking Life" (2001), "Before Sunset" (2004), "Before Midnight" (2013) and "Boyhood" (2014), which the actor and director had shot in pieces over the course of 12 years. Elsewhere, his films ranged from the commercially successful horror effort "The Purge" (2013) to more personal films like a biopic of troubled jazz trumpeter Chet Baker, "Born to Be Blue" (2015). Hawke did suffer the fate of most celebrities by landing in the tabloids for his widely publicized divorce with actress Uma Thurman after rumors of infidelity, but he continued to chart his own course on both stage and screen, making Hawke one of the more intriguing and unpredictable actors of his generation.