Ethan Hawke‘s surprise cameo in Taylor Swift‘s new music video seems to have had an unexpected effect on his daughters.
The 53-year-old actor makes a brief appearance alongside his longtime friend and Dead Poets Society co-star, Josh Charles, in Swift’s visual for “Fortnight (featuring Post Malone).” The song serves as the lead single off Swift’s 11th studio album, The Tortured Poets Department, with the singer offering a subtle wink to the similarly titled 1989 film.
During an appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert on Monday, Hawke confirmed that he signed a nondisclosure agreement prior to participating in the top secret project. As such, even his own daughters didn’t know about the role ahead of time.
“You tell my teenage daughters that I’m going to meet Taylor, and everybody at school’s gonna know,” he said. “When they did find out, the look on their face was one of profound disappointment.”
Hawke is a dad to four children, including 25-year-old Stranger Things star Maya Hawke and 22-year-old Levon Roan Thurman-Hawke — both of whom he shares with his ex-wife, Uma Thurman. He also shares 15-year-old Clementine Jane Hawke and 12-year-old Indiana Hawke with wife Ryan Shawhughes Hawke.
The Boyhood star said that his youngest daughters were unimpressed by Swift’s interest in their father’s work.
“‘Don’t pay attention to my dad. My dad’s an idiot,'” he joked. “‘You should be calling me!’ You know?”
Host Stephen Colbert could relate, replying with, “I’ve been there.”
“Taylor belongs to them, you know?” Hawke continued. “I can’t have that on them. So I had to low-key it.”
Hawke did admit that traveling with Charles to Swift’s music video set was a wild experience.
“[You] can’t imagine what it’s like to walk through an airport with a friend that you’ve known for 35 years, that you grew up with, and watch all the young people in the airport with their Eras [Tour] sweatshirts on and their Taylor Swift things, and we got something on them,” he admitted. “We’re going to meet the queen ourselves right now!”
Once they arrived, Hawke said that the pals “laughed ourselves silly the whole day.”
He confessed, “We felt like the biggest rock stars in the world.”
Hawke is currently promoting his newest directorial feature. In Wildcat, Hawke’s daughter, Maya, plays American writer Flannery O’Connor amid her battle with Lupus while working to publish her debut novel.
“It gave Maya and I a real [opportunity], a meeting place,” he said of their shared love of O’Connor’s work. “Because Flannery asks a lot of profound questions, very serious questions, that she doesn’t answer.”
In a recent interview with ET, the father-daughter duo opened up about the project and the buzzy “nepo baby” label.
“We all, throughout the history of mankind, we often swim in similar streams as our family,” Ethan said. “Your generation gets a lot of flack about this expression that somehow seems derogatory, this nepo child, and I want to align myself as a nepo father.”
Maya chimed in, “I think the criticism of the kids has to do with access and opportunity, and so I’m hesitant around it, though I do appreciate the humorous recognition of our process.”
Wildcat is scheduled for release on May 3 after making its debut at the Telluride Film Festival last year.
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