Maya Hawke Biography

Maya Thurman Hawke (born July 8, 1998) is an American actress and model. She is the daughter of actors Uma Thurman and Ethan Hawke. She made her screen debut as Jo March in the 2017 BBC adaptation of Little Women, and is set to star as Robin in the upcoming third season of Stranger Things.

Birth and family

Hawke was born on July 8, 1998, in New York City, the elder of two children born to American actors Uma Thurman and Ethan Hawke. Her parents met on the set of Gattaca (1997), married in May 1998, and divorced in 2005. Hawke's brother Levon was born in 2002. She also has two half-sisters by her father's second wife, Ryan Shawhughes: Clementine Jane (b. 2008) and Indiana (b. 2011). She has another half-sister, Altalune "Luna" Thurman-Busson (b. 2012), from her mother's ex-fiance, financier Arpad Busson.

On her father's side, Hawke is a great-great-grandniece of playwright Tennessee Williams. On her mother's side, she is a granddaughter of Buddhist scholar Robert A. F. Thurman and model Nena von Schlebrgge. Schlebrgge's mother, Birgit Holmquist, was also a model, having posed for Axel Ebbe's statue Famntaget, currently in Smygehuk in Sweden.

Education

Hawke has dyslexia, which resulted in her changing schools frequently during her primary education before she was finally enrolled at Saint Ann's School, a private school in Brooklyn, New York that emphasizes artistic creativity and does not grade work. The artistic environment eventually led her to acting. She attended the performing arts school Juilliard for one year before being forced to drop out after accepting her role in Little Women.

Modeling

Like both her mother and grandmother, Hawke began her career modeling for Vogue. She was also chosen as the face of the British fashion retailer AllSaints's 2016/2017 collection. In 2017, she starred as one of several faces in a video campaign for Calvin Klein's underwear range, directed by Sofia Coppola.

Acting

Hawke was Sofia Coppola's choice to play the title role of The Little Mermaid in Universal Pictures's planned live-action adaptation. However, the producers preferred the better-known Chlo Grace Moretz. This and other conflicts ultimately led to Coppola exiting the project. However, Moretz eventually dropped out as well and the project is still in limbo.

In 2017, Hawke made her screen debut as Jo March in BBC's miniseries adaptation of Little Women. She has been cast in the role of Robin in the third season of Netflix's Stranger Things. Her character is described as an "alternative girl" who is bored with her job until she stumbles onto one of the secrets of Hawkins.