Maya Hawke Bio
Maya Ray Thurman Hawke, born on July 8, 1998, in New York City, is an American actress and singer-songwriter. The daughter of acclaimed Hollywood actors Ethan Hawke and Uma Thurman, she has built a versatile career that spans television, film, and independent music. She first gained widespread attention for her role as Robin Buckley in the Netflix science fiction horror series Stranger Things, beginning in 2019, and has since expanded her presence across major studio productions and auteur-driven features.
In addition to her acting work, Hawke has established herself as a recording artist, releasing a series of studio albums since 2020. With a background in modeling and a family legacy in film, she represents a new generation of performers who move fluidly between screen and stage projects.
Early Life and Background
Maya Ray Thurman Hawke was born on July 8, 1998, in New York City, to actors Ethan Hawke and Uma Thurman. Her parents met on the set of the 1997 science fiction film Gattaca, married in May 1998, and later divorced in 2005. Hawke has a younger brother, Levon, and also has two half-sisters through her father’s second marriage to Ryan Shawhughes, as well as a half-sister through her mother’s former relationship with financier Arpad Busson.
On her father’s side, Hawke is a distant cousin of the celebrated American playwright Tennessee Williams. On her mother’s side, she is the granddaughter of Buddhist scholar Robert Thurman and model Nena von Schlebrügge. Raised in a creative household surrounded by film sets, books, and music, she was introduced to storytelling and performance from a very young age.
Diagnosed with dyslexia as a child, Hawke changed schools frequently during her early education before being enrolled at Saint Ann’s School, a private school in Brooklyn, New York, that emphasizes artistic creativity and does not grade student work. The school’s artistic environment encouraged her interest in acting. She also participated in summer studies at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London and the Stella Adler Studio of Acting in New York before enrolling at the Juilliard School, where she studied toward a Bachelor of Fine Arts in acting for one year before leaving to pursue professional opportunities.
Path to Acting
Hawke first entered the public eye as a model, following in the footsteps of her mother and grandmother. She modeled for Vogue and was selected as the face of the British fashion retailer AllSaints’ 2016/2017 collection. In 2017, she starred as one of several faces in a video campaign for Calvin Klein’s underwear range, directed by filmmaker Sofia Coppola, and she returned to Calvin Klein for the brand’s Fall/Winter 2022 underwear campaign in September 2022.
Her transition to acting began early when director Sofia Coppola chose Hawke for the title role in Universal Pictures’ planned live-action adaptation of The Little Mermaid. Although the project ultimately went unproduced, the experience reinforced her commitment to the craft. Hawke made her official screen debut in 2017, portraying Jo March in the BBC miniseries adaptation of Little Women, a performance that introduced her to international audiences.
Following her debut, she took on the role of Flowerchild in the 2018 thriller Ladyworld, directed by Amanda Kramer. These early projects, combined with her family’s deep roots in cinema, helped Hawke develop a thoughtful approach to her career and laid the foundation for her later breakthroughs in both independent and mainstream film and television.
Maya Hawke Career
Early Career (2017–2018)
Hawke’s early career was defined by her 2017 debut as Jo March in the BBC’s Little Women, a project she accepted while still studying at the Juilliard School. The role marked her first significant screen credit and gave her the opportunity to work within a well-known literary adaptation. The experience confirmed her decision to leave Juilliard and pursue acting full-time.
In September 2018, she starred in the thriller Ladyworld, a project directed by Amanda Kramer. These two early roles established her as a thoughtful performer capable of handling both period drama and genre material, setting the stage for the wider recognition that would soon follow.
Breakthrough (2019–2021)
Hawke achieved major recognition in 2019 with her performance as Robin Buckley in the third season of Netflix’s Stranger Things, which premiered in July 2019. The role introduced her to a global audience and remains one of her most recognized performances, as she continued to portray the character in subsequent seasons of the series through 2025.
That same year, she appeared as Linda Kasabian, also known as Flowerchild, in Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, and co-starred in Marc Meyers’ thriller Human Capital, which is based on Stephen Amidon’s 2004 novel of the same name. In 2020, she starred in Gia Coppola’s Mainstream alongside Andrew Garfield and guest starred in the miniseries The Good Lord Bird, playing the daughter of her father Ethan Hawke’s character. She also appeared in Italian Studies, written and directed by Adam Leon and co-starring Vanessa Kirby, which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival and was later released in January 2022.
In 2021, Hawke starred in the Netflix horror film Fear Street Part One: 1994 as Heather, further expanding her presence in genre cinema. She also starred in a scripted podcast series based on her Stranger Things character titled Rebel Robin: Surviving Hawkins.
Notable Works and Milestones
Beyond Stranger Things, Hawke has built a striking résumé of film work that includes Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019), Fear Street Part One: 1994 (2021), Do Revenge (2022), Asteroid City (2023), Maestro (2023), and the animated film Inside Out 2 (2024), in which she voiced the character Anxiety. Her filmography reflects a balance between mainstream studio productions and independent features, often working with celebrated directors such as Quentin Tarantino, Sofia Coppola, Gia Coppola, Wes Anderson, and Bradley Cooper.
Maya Hawke Award Nominations
Information regarding verified award nominations for Maya Hawke is not currently available from the provided sources.
Maya Hawke Awards Won
Information regarding verified award wins for Maya Hawke is not currently available from the provided sources.
Maya Hawke Family
Maya Hawke was born to actors Ethan Hawke and Uma Thurman, both of whom have had long and distinguished careers in film. Her parents married in May 1998 and divorced in 2005. She has a younger brother, Levon Hawke, and three half-sisters, two through her father’s marriage to Ryan Shawhughes and one through her mother’s former relationship with financier Arpad Busson.
On her father’s side, she is a distant cousin of the American playwright Tennessee Williams. On her mother’s side, she is the granddaughter of Buddhist scholar Robert Thurman and model Nena von Schlebrügge, whose mother, Birgit Holmquist, was also a model known for posing for Axel Ebbe’s statue Famntaget in Sweden. The family’s deep ties to film, literature, academia, and the arts have shaped her creative outlook from an early age.
Personal Life
Maya Hawke has spoken publicly about having no denominational religious beliefs, though she has described herself as highly optimistic about the existence of something greater. She began a relationship with longtime friend and fellow musician Christian Lee Hutson in 2023, and the two married on February 14, 2026, in New York City. The wedding was attended by several of her Stranger Things co-stars, as well as actors Sam Nivola and Kathryn Newton, among others.