Featured Image Credit: Taylor Hill/ Getty Images
Topics: Maya Hawke, Quentin Tarantino, Film and TV
Phoebe Tonks
Topics: Maya Hawke, Quentin Tarantino, Film and TV
It’s been over six years since Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon A Time In Hollywood dominated the box office.
Yet even despite half a decade having passed since the film’s release, one of the movie’s stars Maya Hawke may have accidentally reignited controversy surrounding her inclusion in the film.
Hawke, 27, is the daughter of Hollywood heavyweights Ethan Hawke and Uma Thurman and due to her mother’s close bond with Tarantino, has been around the director for her whole life.
In non-celebrity circles, this wouldn’t normally be a problem, but following a recent interview with Rolling Stone, Hawke inadvertently put her foot in it when she referred to her ‘kooky uncle Quentin’ – a move which reignited the nepo baby debate which has dogged her for much of her career.
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While reflecting on her audition experience for the movie, Maya explained how she had initially been ‘scared’ to appear in front of Tarantino due to their connection.
“I have known him my whole life. But, of course, in the room that day, he was very different, you know? He wasn’t, like, kooky Uncle Quentin — he was in serious mode,” she told the outlet.
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The audition process was then described, which included a group of girls being separated into two teams alongside Austin Butler and James Landry Hébert as they took turns in portraying members of the Manson family, with both Butler and Hébert vying for the role of Tex.
As anyone who has watched the film will know, Hawke was successful in securing the role of Flower Child, a member of the Manson family, but thanks to her recent comment, fans are now once again speculating she may not have won the role based on talent alone.
Hawke’s comments have divided fans online, with some quick to dub her a ‘nepo baby’ who secured her role due to connections rather than talent.
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“Nobody suffers like nepo babies: true courage in the face of familiarity,” wrote one fan on X.
A second fan added: “he wasn't like ‘kooky uncle Quentin' hmm she would gotten the role regardless.”
A third fan meanwhile speculated: “I mean, literally every QT film has at least one nepo baby and he's done three films with her mum so she was always going to be pretty secure.”
However, not everyone is so convinced, with some fans stepping up to defend Hawke for securing the role based on her acting skills.
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One fan wrote: “So many people are just so full of hate and jealousy. Before I knew who her parents are I thought she was a beautiful and talented actor. Her parents are also fantastic. Many children follow their parents into the same field.”
A second agreed adding: “She is unique even if she's a nepo, she proves that she is someone even with her chances she is Maya Hawke and not someone’s daughter”
A 'nepo baby' is a term for the child of a famous or successful person who is believed to have secured their success through their parents connections and privilege rather than on their own merits.
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The term is a portmanteau of 'nepotism' (the practice of favoring relatives) and 'baby', and is often used pejoratively in entertainment, politics, and business to suggest that success was not entirely earned.