Uma Thurman and Ethan Hawke: Hollywood Love Story, Marriage and Divorce
The story of Uma Thurman and Ethan Hawke is one of Hollywood’s most famous romances: two young stars who fell in love on a movie set, married in 1998, had two children — including Stranger Things star Maya Hawke — and endured one of the most publicized divorces of the 2000s. In 2025 Hawke still called the split “humiliating.” Here is the full, honest timeline.
Who Is Uma Thurman?
Uma Thurman (born April 29, 1970) is an American actress and model who became one of the defining screen muses of the 1990s. She broke through as Mia Wallace in Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction (1994), earning a Golden Globe nomination, and later headlined Tarantino’s Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003) and Vol. 2 (2004) as The Bride — one of cinema’s most iconic revenge heroines.
Before Hawke, Thurman was married to Harry Potter actor Gary Oldman from 1990 to 1992. She has three children: Maya and Levon with Hawke, and daughter Luna (b. 2012) with former fiancé, financier Arpad Busson. Her screen partnership with Tarantino remains the creative signature of her career, much like other legendary Hollywood pairings such as Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell’s decades-long partnership.
Who Is Ethan Hawke?
Ethan Hawke (born November 6, 1970) is an American actor, writer, and director. He made his film debut in Explorers (1985), broke through in Dead Poets Society (1989), and earned his first Academy Award nomination for Training Day (2001). The beloved Before trilogy (Sunrise, Sunset, Midnight) cemented him as one of his generation’s great romantic leads.
Hawke is also a novelist and theater director, a co-founder of the Malaparte theater company, and a long-time New York City resident. After his divorce from Thurman, he married Ryan Hawke (née Shawhughes) in 2008; they have two daughters, Clementine and Indiana. His family story, like that of Brenda Song and Macaulay Culkin, shows how former child and teen stars navigate fame, family, and second chances.
Uma Thurman and Ethan Hawke: Relationship Timeline
1996–1997: Meeting on Gattaca. The two met on the set of the sci-fi film Gattaca (released 1997), where they played love interests. Their on-screen chemistry spilled into real life — a classic case of set romance, the kind Hawke would later describe as being “like falling in love at summer camp.”
May 1, 1998: Wedding. Hawke (27) and Thurman (28) married in a ceremony in New York. Just two months later, their daughter Maya Hawke arrived (July 8, 1998), followed by son Levon Roan Thurman-Hawke in 2002.
1998–2003: The golden years — and the cracks. Both careers soared: Hawke’s Oscar nomination for Training Day came in 2002, the same year Thurman filmed Kill Bill. But the pressures of young fame were mounting. Hawke later told GQ Hype that his marriage began breaking down in 2001, right after his first Oscar nomination: “Success in your youth is overwhelming… I mistakenly believed marriage would stabilize my life.”
2003: Separation. The couple separated amid tabloid rumors that Hawke had been unfaithful with the family’s nanny, Ryan Shawhughes, during a film shoot in Montreal. Hawke denied the timeline, telling 20/20 in 2004: “Uma and I didn’t split due to anyone’s cheating. We had issues long before Montreal.”
2005: Divorce finalized. The divorce was granted in 2005. Weeks later, Hawke went public with Ryan Shawhughes; they married in 2008 and remain together. The split was covered exhaustively at the time by outlets like Tyla, and it remains one of Hollywood’s most dissected breakups.
Why Did Uma Thurman and Ethan Hawke Split?
There was no single cause — it was a combination of youth, fame, and distance. Both were only in their late twenties when they married, and both hit career peaks simultaneously, pulling them in opposite directions. Hawke has been remarkably candid in retrospect: in his September 2025 GQ Hype interview, he admitted the marriage’s collapse left him depressed and said the public scrutiny was “humiliating — it’s almost humiliating even when they’re saying positive things.”
Thurman, for her part, took ownership in a famous Oprah interview: “Our marriage failed. I should take full responsibility for the failure of my own marriage. Blaming anybody doesn’t make you feel any better.” The nanny rumors — which Hawke has consistently denied as the cause — nevertheless became the scandal’s shorthand in the tabloids, a reminder of how brutally the early-2000s press treated celebrity divorces, as other high-profile splits of the era also showed.
Where Are Uma Thurman and Ethan Hawke Now?
Both have thrived since the divorce. Maya Hawke, their daughter, has become a star in her own right as Robin in Stranger Things (plus roles in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood and a music career), often speaking warmly of both parents. Levon Hawke is pursuing acting as well.
Hawke continues to act, direct, and write, and has been married to Ryan Hawke since 2008 — they share daughters Clementine and Indiana. Thurman never remarried but was twice engaged, and continues acting while raising her three children. Hawke’s rare 2025 reflections on the “humiliating” breakup brought the story back into headlines — proof this chapter still fascinates Hollywood two decades on.
Frequently Asked Questions
When did Uma Thurman and Ethan Hawke get married?
They married on May 1, 1998, after meeting on the set of the 1997 film Gattaca.
Why did Uma Thurman and Ethan Hawke divorce?
They separated in 2003 and divorced in 2005 amid the pressures of young fame and cheating rumors. Both have said the marriage had deeper issues; Hawke denied the nanny affair caused the split.
How many children do Uma Thurman and Ethan Hawke have together?
Two: daughter Maya Hawke (born 1998), star of Stranger Things, and son Levon Hawke (born 2002).
Who is Ethan Hawke married to now?
Ryan Hawke (née Shawhughes), whom he married in June 2008. They have two daughters, Clementine and Indiana.
What did Ethan Hawke say about the divorce in 2025?
In a September 2025 GQ Hype interview, he called the public breakup “humiliating” and admitted it left him depressed, saying his marriage began breaking down in 2001 after his first Oscar nomination.
Is Uma Thurman married now?
No — she has not remarried since the divorce, though she was engaged twice (including to financier Arpad Busson, with whom she shares daughter Luna).
Uma Thurman and Ethan Hawke’s marriage lasted seven years, but its story — a whirlwind set romance, two talented children, a painful public ending, and hard-won wisdom afterward — has endured for nearly three decades. It remains the definitive cautionary tale of young Hollywood love: thrilling as summer camp, as Hawke himself put it, but no foundation for a lifetime without the work to match.
