Ethan Hawke recalls 'humiliating' break up from Uma Thurman following cheating scandal
It was once considered one of Hollywood's biggest scandals, and this week, Ethan Hawke is reflecting on his bombshell split from ex Uma Thurman.
For those in need of a reminder, the actors tied the knot back in 1998, a year after first meeting on the set of the sci-fi film Gattaca.
During their marriage, Thurman gave birth to two children; a daughter, Maya, 27 - who has since followed in her parents' acting shoes with a huge role in Stranger Things - and a son, Levon, 23.
By 2004, however, the couple had parted ways amidst rumours that 54-year-old Hawke had enjoyed an affair with the family's nanny, Ryan Shawhughes, behind 55-year-old Thurman's back.
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Despite the Training Day actor initially attempting to shut down the speculation regarding the alleged extra-marital romance, weeks after he and Thurman signed their divorce papers in 2005, he and Shawhughes went public.
They then went on to exchange vows in 2008.
And to this day, the couple remain happily married, having since gone on to welcome two children together - daughters Clementine, 17, and Indiana, 14.
In the years since Hawke and Thurman - who was first married to Harry Potter actor Gary Oldman between 1990-1992 - called it a day, he has remained reluctant to discuss the ins and outs of the big-name break-up in conversations with the press.
That is, however, until this week, when he spoke to GQ Hype about the aftermath of their divorce, admitting it left him 'depressed'.
"It’s humiliating. It’s almost humiliating even when they’re saying positive things," the father-of-four told the publication, claiming his marriage first began breaking down in 2001 following his first Oscar nomination.
"In a lot of ways, it could have been the beginning of something," Hawke explained. "It was the best moment of my career. Like, 'Maybe, maybe you could be commercially viable.' But I got divorced and my personal life fell apart."
He went on to note: "I don’t know if you feel this way, but when you’re depressed, it’s really easy to see everything that is fake about other people and life, and I just started seeing that.
"How phoney celebrity was, how phoney everything is. You channel your inner Holden Caulfield, you know?"
Elsewhere in the interview, Hawke also went on to recall his and Thurman's earliest days after falling in love on set.
"There’s a certain intimacy to the work that we do. Imaginative intimacy," Hawke continued, comparing their initial romance to a game of spin the bottle. It’s such a high."
He added: "It turns the temperature up in your life. It can be like falling in love at summer camp. It doesn’t have any connection to the dailiness of real life. That’s the danger of it."
In Thurman's case, meanwhile, she still keeps her cards close to her chest when it comes to her marriage to Hawke.
The Pulp Fiction star reportedly told Parade in 2006: "I cannot participate in anything critical about my children’s father."
Thurman added: "I just need to keep peace. I think it’s fair to say that I haven’t said one mean thing, and I’m not going to start now. It’s terrible for my family."
Since their split, she went on to wed and welcome a third child - a daughter, Luna, 13 - with French hedge fund manager Arpad Busson.
In 2009, the couple parted ways before briefly rekindling, with them calling it quits for good in 2014.
Rhianna Benson