Maya Hawke's Parents: All About Her Relationship With Dad Ethan and Mom Uma

Between roles in Stranger Things and Asteroid City, Maya Hawke has cemented her fame as an actress. Yet, she's still grateful to her celebrity parents, Uma Thurman and Ethan Hawke, for the advice they gave her growing up.

She was born on July 8, 1998 — two years after her parents met on the set of Gattaca. Uma and Ethan married in 1998 and welcomed their second child, son Levon Hawke, in 2002.

Though Uma and Ethan divorced in 2005, Maya has a good relationship with both of her parents, who were initially wary of her entering the entertainment industry.

"They were wary of the public life side of acting and the difficulties of that. They also tried to protect me from falling into acting," Maya told The Guardian in October 2021. "They wanted to ensure I had a strong enough backbone, my own passion for it and work ethic. They didn't want to cart me along on every red carpet or have me do bit-parts in their movies. Once I was old enough, and it was clear they were my choices, they were very supportive."

The young star even teased that she would be willing to inherit her mother's iconic role if there was to be a Kill Bill Vol. 3 in the future.

"There are always rumors about that," she said. "Quentin is on his own darn schedule. He'll do what he wants when he damn well wants. But I've known him my whole life and if he ever wanted to work with me again, of course I would love to."

From Instagram shout-outs to acting together on-screen, here’s everything to know about Maya Hawke's relationship with her parents, Ethan Hawke and Uma Thurman.

Uma and Ethan kept Maya out of the spotlight early on

Acting may be the family business, but Maya’s parents didn’t push the career on her. “I went into acting, there was no pressure,” she shared on a July 2019 episode of SiriusXM’s The Jenny McCarthy Show. “It was that I love it more than anything else.”

Despite the star power contained in one household, the Stranger Things actress has said growing up with mom Uma and dad Ethan was pretty normal.

“I think if you’re lucky, it’s like you don’t have parents who are celebrities,” Maya said. “Like, I was never aware of my parents being anything other than my parents. They were loving and present and we played games and took train rides.”

Maya taps Uma and Ethan for acting advice

Even though her parents didn’t pressure Maya to act, she followed in their famous footsteps anyway — and was open to their guidance.

From the 2017 Little Women mini-series to Stranger Things and Do Revenge, Maya has plenty of impressive roles under her belt, and she doesn’t take for granted her parents’ knowledge from years in the business. “I’m always running decisions by them,” she told WSJ. Magazine in July 2019. “They both have similar levels of success but really different experiences within the business.”

In May 2021, Maya spoke to PEOPLE about her relationship with her father. "We're always working together in one way or another," Maya said. "Whether it's me calling him being like, 'How do I do this? I need help.' Or him helping me with audition tapes. There's a real network of communication there. I really see him as my teacher more than almost anything else."

She also knows she won't get a sugar-coated response from her mom or dad. “I know my parents don’t B.S. me,” she said on The Jenny McCarthy Show. “They’re pretty rigorous in terms of their commentary when they like something or don’t.”

Uma and Ethan constantly show support for Maya’s career

Though they may not be shy with their opinions, Uma and Ethan also share how proud they are of Maya, who is also a singer. “She’s always been gifted,” Ethan said on a November 2020 episode of Late Night With Seth Meyers. "We've always had an easy dialogue about art."

When Maya made her debut as Stranger Things’ Robin Buckley in July 2019, Uma posted on Instagram about her “victorious loving mermaid daughter.” She shared a picture of Maya in a mermaid tail float and wrote, “A weekend of triumph on Stranger Things. Congratulations beloved @maya_hawke.”

Uma has been vocal about being nervous for her daughter in such a tough business, but she told Access Hollywood in February 2022 that it was inevitable Maya would channel her creativity into acting. “In the end, she is such a brilliant actress, obviously there's nothing else she would have ever done," Uma said. "Her talent was so big. It’s what she had to do.”

Ethan also had plenty of praise for Maya as he did press for his Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward documentary, The Last Movie Stars. He told the Los Angeles Times in July 2022 that he’s not shy to ask Maya for advice. “She’s really smart. She’s been through a lot in her life,” Ethan told the publication. "It's not easy growing up with parents with paparazzi following them around. It's not exactly the ride that some people might think it is."

Maya’s dad gave her props again during an Instagram Live they teamed up for that month. After joking their way through some technical difficulties, Ethan told his daughter, “For years, you’ve had to tag along with paparazzi following after your mother and I, and now, you've usurped us. You’ve lapped us.”

Maya has acted with both of her parents

Maya’s worked with both Uma and Ethan. She played opposite her dad as his character’s daughter in the 2020 series The Good Lord Bird and starred alongside Uma in the 2023 thriller-comedy The Kill Room.

“I love working with both of them. They’re really awesome,” Maya told Ryan Seacrest during an August 2022 episode of Live with Kelly and Ryan. “They’re just amazing at their job.”

Talking to Seth Meyers about working with Maya in The Good Lord Bird, Ethan celebrated his daughter’s prowess as an actor: “She’s got ideas, and she has a grace that she gave the show that I didn't know we needed so badly.”

Most recently, Maya and Ethan starred in Wildcat — the pair's first film project together. The father-daughter duo will also appear in the upcoming movie Revolver. 

Ethan and Maya bond over music

After Uma and Ethan divorced, Maya spent time separately with them. “When I was with my dad, we'd spend a lot of time together playing guitar, singing songs, writing poetry and would paint late into the night," she told As If Magazine in a August 2022 interview. "He was figuring out how to fully engage with a child.”

As she got older, Maya and Ethan continued to relate to each other through music. “My dad was such a powerful creative influence on me musically,” she recounted to The Line of Best Fit in October 2022. Maya also shared the first time she introduced a song to Ethan.

"'Ours' was the first Taylor Swift song that I played for him on guitar,” Maya recalled. “He was like, 'Who wrote that?', and I was like, 'Taylor Swift!' He told me he thought it was a really good song, and I was like, 'Oh, my God, I just brought something to my dad that he didn't know, and he likes — and I like!' It made me feel so confident."

Maya and her dad went on to see Swift during the artist's 2011 Speak Now tour, which Maya said was “such a happy moment, sharing an experience with someone who put so much energy into cultivating my taste.” (Swiftie status isn’t only reserved for Ethan — Uma and Maya were spotted at Swift’s sold-out Eras Tour show in May 2023.)

While Maya credits Ethan with providing her with much of her musical inspiration, the proud dad also makes sure to give Maya props for her own music career. In 2019, Ethan hyped her “two gorgeous songs” on Instagram as she made her musical debut.

Maya and Uma treasure mother-daughter moments

While Maya bonded over music with her father, she credits her mother for exposing her to a love of nature.

"My mom really introduced me to nature," Maya told As If Magazine. The singer discussed her 2022 album, MOSS, and how Uma and her gardening skills influenced her music. "My mom has a kind of mystical sensibility when it comes to nature and that continues to be an incredibly grounding force in my life," she said.

In October 2023, Maya and Uma enjoyed a mother-daughter night out at the Room to Grow 25th Anniversary Gala in New York City.

"What isn't a mother-daughter bond?” Uma said to PEOPLE on the red carpet. “Good communication. That is a big challenge, to make sure we keep communication healthy, strong and open with your family.”