Ethan Hawke reveals River Phoenix’s death is a reason why he REFUSED to live in Hollywood

Ethan Hawke has revealed that his friend River Phoenix’s drug overdose death back in 1993 is one of the main reasons why he refused to make Hollywood his home.

River was just 23 when he collapsed outside of iconic West Hollywood nightclub The Viper Rooms, abruptly bringing to an end a hugely successful acting career.

And New York-based Ethan, who co-starred with River in the 1985 sci-fi film Explorers when they were children, has admitted that he accepted soon after his friend and co-star’s shocking passing that Los Angeles wasn’t the city for him.

In a new interview with The Guardian, he explained: ‘My first screen partner overdosed on Sunset Boulevard, you know? He was the brightest light and this industry chewed him up, and that was a big lesson to me.

‘If I had to put a single reason on why I never moved to LA, it would be I think it’s too dangerous for an actor like me to be in that kind of climate.’

The 50-year-old actor, who was once married to Uma Thurman, almost touched on the fact that a number of his co-stars – including Phillip Seymour Hoffman and Robin Williams – have died prematurely. 

‘Drugs and alcohol and depression are formidable opponents all over the world,’ he said. People think getting what you want will make you happy, but a sense of self, purpose and love don’t come from the outside.’ 

Earlier this month, screen star Ethan received an Outstanding Achievement in Entertainment Award at the virtual SCAD Savannah Film Festival.

Speaking about his transition to directing, he shared that he felt a good director had to have a feel for all the roles involved in the process. 

With his new show The Good Lord Bird having premiered in early October, he has had a chance to play creator and also work alongside his eldest daughter Maya, 22. 

A miniseries based on the novel by James McBride, the show follows a newly freed teenager who joins abolitionist John Brown (Hawke) on a crusade to end slavery. 

Set in 1859, the show interweaves the stories of Harriet Tubman and Frederick Douglass, in a story that Hawke called incredibly ‘relevant’ for the times.

In an October interview with Entertainment Weekly Ethan said: ‘It’s a really valuable moment to be studying this story…Our inability to look at our nation’s past hurts us. If we ignore these stories, we don’t know ourselves as a country and as people.’

Serving as both the show’s creator and a main character, Ethan took on a hefty workload as he said the process of taking the story from the page to the screen was ‘absolutely exhausting’.

‘I’ve never worked that hard in my life. By the end, we all felt like we walked through a fire,’ he said.