Maya Hawke admits she was only cast in blockbuster movie for 'nepotistic reasons'

Maya Hawke might be a star in her own right now, but she's claimed she only landed her role in a 2019 movie for 'nepotistic reasons'.

At just 25 years old, Hawke has already established herself as familiar face in the industry thanks to her major role in Stranger Things, as well as appearances in movies like Asteroid City alongside Tom Hanks and Scarlett Johansson.

Hawke is next set to appear as the voice of 'Anxiety' in Pixar's Inside Out 2, but in a recent interview with The Times she looked back at one of her first big Hollywood projects.

In 2019, Hawke appeared in Quentin Tarantino's movie Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood, which featured a star-studded cast made up of Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad Pitt, Margot Robbie, Austin Butler and Dakota Fanning, among others.

Hawke played the role of Flower Child, one of Charles Manson’s followers, and has previously spoken about how she auditioned for the part.

Maya Hawke sent an audition tape for Quentin Tarantino. (David Crotty/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images)

However, as the daughter of Ethan Hawke and Uma Thurman, who has worked with Tarantino numerous times, Hawke caught some criticism from people who suggested her audition had little to with her success.

Hawke actually agrees, as she told The Times: "I’ve been wildly made fun of for this clip when I said, on the red carpet, that I auditioned.

"I never meant to imply that I didn’t get the part for nepotistic reasons - I think I totally did."

Hawke went on to claim that Tarantino had been 'making an active effort to cast a lot of young Hollywood', with Andie MacDowell's daughter Margaret Qualley and Bruce Willis' daughter Rumer also among those who featured in the movie.

Leonardo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. (Sony Pictures)

Hawke made clear she's accepting of how she got to where she is, as she continued: "‘Deserves’ is a complicated word. There are so many people who deserve to have this kind of life who don’t, but I think I’m comfortable with not deserving it and doing it anyway. And I know that my not doing it wouldn’t help anyone."

Hawke said there were 'two paths' to her starting in Hollywood, one of which involved her changing her name and getting a 'nose job'. Instead, she approached with honesty about her family.

“It’s OK to be made fun of when you’re in rarefied air," Hawke continued. "It’s a lucky place to be. My relationships with my parents are really honest and positive, and that supersedes anything anyone can say about it.”