When asked about his first impression of the 'Mr. Robot' star, the Texas native says, 'He was the coolest person I'd ever seen.'
- August 7, 2018
AceShowbiz - Christian Slater helped to put a teenage Ethan Hawke at ease when they met at an audition years before finding fame.
Both men started their careers at a young age and went on to establish themselves as top actors, and Christian was recently reminded of their early meeting when Ethan was a guest on a recent episode of America's Today show, which the Mr. Robot actor had been co-hosting.
"(It's) something I never thought I would be comfortable doing," the 48-year-old told Mr Porter of the hosting gig. "But I do seem to enjoy it. It's like kind of working at your own private island. Because everybody comes to you.
"Ethan Hawke came by today. He has a movie that he directed (Blaze), won a lot of awards at Sundance (Film Festival). And he said, 'Hey, we met a long time ago.' And I was like, 'Really? I don't remember.'
"He was about 14, auditioning for this movie. And I guess I was the reader, the guy off-camera. I was 15. My mother must have been involved because she's a casting director. He said that I was very cool, smoking a cigarette off-camera. I helped to put him at ease."
During the Today show chat, Ethan, 47, told co-host Hoda Kotb that he also first met Philip Seymour Hoffman in a similar way.
Asked what Ethan's first impressions were of Christian, who already had quite a few acting credits to his name, he admitted: "That he was the coolest person I'd ever seen."
"I'm not kidding," he continued, as Christian grinned. "I told my friend that I went on this audition, this guy's like James Dean or something. Because you were so cool! I remember you said to me, 'You nervous? Don't be, these people are suckers you're going to do great'. You were really encouraging."
