N Boz az Do E -@ c o o cAetor/direclor/novelist Hawk€ outside the Cinema Village theater on E. lzth St.</p><p> H€ once livod iil the neafby Chelsed Hotel, Photo by Mlchael Appleton/Daity News W o rz -o roo N o i 4 ti)Though talking aboul "Hottest Srate,', the movie he adapted based on his oM 1997 debut qovel, is the purpose for do- ing press, the first words out of Hawke,s mouth echo the classic complaint of New Yorkers upset at their changing ciry "You know that great diner where we talked before?" asks Hawke, talking about the Chelsea spot he was giving intetriews at Iast fall for his Tony-nominated work in the epic trilogy "The Coast oI Utopia " "It,s gone! I lyent away and came back, and it was gone " Hawl(e's new morie celebl ates tlie city through 1he story of a stnrgghng- bu1 confi- detli vr>rtrrg aclrit, !,'ill1ililt iNlail{ \\'eill)el),i falling hard for Sara, an aspiring down- i town singer (Catalina Sandino Moreno) The film acknowledges the sad truth that a frrst crush isn't nearly as memorable as a first heartbreak And like many, Hawke,s heaft can be broken when the city he has Iived in since he was 10 changes too much, too fast , "I couldn't believe it when Tower Re- cords uptown closed," says Hawke, nomi- nated for an Academy Award for Best Sup- pofting Actol for 2001's "Training Day" and original scr eenplay for 200.1's "Before Sunset" (wilh.lulie Delpy and Richard l-in- kialel') Born in Austur and raiseci part- l\'1it Ne!\ Jt,t,reV, hrt hits rl!c ?tfirer'1i()n f.)jthan Hawke has a small role as an absent dad in his second film as a director and screenwdter, ',The Flottest State,,, opening Friday.</p><p> And while the 36-year-old Hawke says the most important role in his life is being a good father to his own two children, and he's known as an Oscar-nominat- ed actor and writer, a filmmaker and a regular on the stage, perhaps the part he plays best is impassioned Newyorker.New York that only those who finally iound themselves here in the city feel "I couldn,t believe it." That's one less place to feature the soundtrack to Ns film, an imovative work filled with new songs by singer-song5vrit- er Jesse Harris (who's worked with Ndrah Jones, among others) but perfomed by ev- eryone tiom Wllie Nelson to Feist As Hawke walks through Union Square toward a photo shoot, he casually responds to the one or two people who speak up when he walks by, though riost people rec- ognize him but leave him alone, in classic New York fashion With his straggly hair and downtown energy, Hawke fits right in with the hippie, bohemian vibe that strug- gles to remain alive in the neighborhood alongside Whole Foods and Starbucks And the Chelsea Hotel? It's no suttrrise lhal lhe samc day rhe media uas reponrng that the famously seedy spot's new olvner s wel e lookinrr 10 Jack up rents.</p><p> Hawke was spotted in the lotlby taiking I)assionately wifh the nanagel. lrving to lic'clr the lrn(i nrar k irlive in s.)ul, nol iLtst 5tr U( I Llre ''Ibrt r,'r,:; l, r:ltlctiiettrtr '\it\,.1 flil.,',iir,q'ho lired at tlre hotel for tt/!'o :/ears after his di\nrce from actr ess lTma'lhurman and herd an office there for fi1'e years- where he wote his sec- 0nd best scller; "r\sh Wednes' dav " It was also the loczrtion lill hrs dellut film as director, 2001's'Chelsea\trhlls " "l wenL over tllere to d0 an iDten ierv I saw Stanley Bard. the rnanager', and I said, 'What ihe hell's going on?' I just love Stanle:r Fle's taken car e of me mv whole life And I love that place Chelsea l-Iotel is the last nran standing lt's the last beacon of, 'Not gonna falI to corporate America ' "And ir loolls like itiust lelt." llawke looks to be sturdier, having long ago made the transition from child zrctor in "Explorers" (1985) and "Dead Pr:eis Society" (1989, his breakthrough) to an accornplished actor on stage ("Henry lV" -with Kelin Kline) to movies ranging from the generationally hip ("Reality Bites") and the shaggily romantic ("Before Sunrise") ro modem updates ("Great Expectations," "Hamlet") and genre flicks ('Ga$::.a," /"Taking Lives," "Assault on Precinct 1 3") Upcoming projects include Sidney Lurrret's "Before the Dev- i.l Knows You're Dead," co-star- ring Philip Seymour Hoffman and due in October, and "Day- breakers," a vampire tlick that seemed the most dramatic switch he could possibly make after Tom Stoppard's three-part Russian epic "Utopia" at Lincoln Center: Alwavs passionate and opinionated.</p><p> Hawke is definrtely less fierl and pointed than he s'as as a -vounger malr as he him- sell would be the first to say.</p><p> So, when adapt- ing a book he rvrrjte more thalt a decade ago, Hus'ke follnd hinself identifying less with Wiliiarn the besotted voung hero, and morew:ith the tather whom \\4lliam struggles to confront and comect with "l was so idealistic about love and art and politics," says Hawke "I was so idealistic I still am, but the world is much grayer than I thought it was lt's harder to make your way than I thouBht "i'm 36, and sharing custody of kids is really . . you know, you have to work \ really hard at what I would call love in action' - really being Io\ing, sharing, being forgiv- ing, apologizing, you know? It'sbigstuff Iflhadgone throughthatwhen Iwas 17, I would never have been able to do it It takes all I can [mus- ter] now "It's really hard," says Hawke, whose own pal ents married young wnosu own pal ents marfled young ancl separated when he was 5 "Everybody can have the best intentions. and it's still hard lt aiu t easy at all l'm much more for - €iivinB ot thai charactet the absent dad, than I rvas While nry r elationship to my father does not mirror the one in the movie, it emo- tionaih rnirrors it There are some similar i-ties, though it's not as simplistic as that lt's much more complicated. "The biggest difference between me now and ne at, say, 2I is my relationship with my father.</p><p> He eould relate to me orrce I was grown We found each other in a way that we couldn't when I was younger And he's been a real asset.</p><p> I've been amued how ntuch easier life is when you go through life with a positive relationship with your father.</p><p> I didn't know what a weight that was " Professionally, Hawke feels good about where he's at and isn't too wonied about what the reception for "The Hottest State" could be He'd love to be asked to dil ect sometiing else, but since his labor of love, "Chelsea Walls" - which co-starred Rosario Dawson.</p><p> Vincent D'Onofrio.</p><p> Natasha Rich- ardson and Kris Kristofferson - disappeared so completely, he says he only hopes "Hottest State" will "pierce the radar".iust enough "l have a secret hope that sometime over the next l0 years thai there will be some guy of girl going through a terrible breakup," he says, ever the romantic, "and their friends will slip thenr the D\rD and it'Il mean some- tlrins to thenl " a
