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Ethan Hawke

Originally posted Thursday January 20, 2005 06:00 AM EST

Hawke, who has daughter Maya Ray, 6 (above), and son Roan, 3, with ex Uma Thurman, says their split last year was "one of the hardest time periods in my life, but I'm glad to be through it." Photo by: LDP / SIPA

How do you see your work changing as you've matured?
You learn things in life and you apply them to everything. ... I think that it's probably true that when I was 25 I wouldn't have been interested in making this movie. It was too important to me to try and figure out who I was. I didn't want to be in anything that was kind of perceived as simply a commercial venture. And my taste has kind of expanded as I've grown up.

And with your personal life?
Well, if you're in the arts, as corny as it sounds, your life is the stuff from which you work with. ... Friends of mine say that after Training Day there was some kind of change in my work, and I chalk a lot of that up to simply developmental. It was my daughter and turning 30.

Any disappointment that Before Sunset wasn't a blockbuster?
With that particular movie, I was so happy that we got to make it. I saw the whole thing as such a victory. We wanted to make that movie for nine years. So there was no disappointment about it not performing great. That's not why you make that movie.

You're returning to the New York theater this month in the biting play Hurlyburly. Why the stage?
Theater has always been my first love. It's a great place to push your own learning process without a lot of financial risk, meaning that when you do a movie, they ask you to do the same thing that you've done before. In theater you're given an opportunity to risk more as a performer.

And why Hurlyburly?
It's very dark, and it's sometimes interesting to play characters that aren't likable because it removes one tool that you can use. It's fun. It's incredibly challenging and that's why you do it.