Uma Thurman's daughter Maya Hawke to star in Little Women
For the last 19 years she’s been known as Uma Thurman’s little girl, occasionally appearing on her mother’s arm at film premieres.
But now, Maya Hawke has entered the spotlight in her own right, and will this Christmas become a Little Woman.
For the teenage model-turned-actress has landed her first professional acting role, as Jo March in the BBC’s adaptation of Louisa May Alcott’s classic novel Little Women.
Maya Hawke (second right) will play Jo in the upcoming BBC production of Little Women. She is pictured (from left) with Kathryn Newton, who plays Amy, Scream star Willa Fitzgerald, who plays Meg and Annes Elwy, who plays Beth
The three-part adaptation, also starring Emily Watson, Dame Angela Lansbury and Sir Michael Gambon, has been billed as one of the jewel’s in the BBC’s Christmas schedule, and will be stripped across three consecutive nights from Boxing Day.
Yet despite the high-profile nature of her entry into television, Miss Hawke - whose father is American actor Ethan Hawke - appears to have taken it all in her stride, and said yesterday she knew she was the ‘right person’ to play the part of fiercely independent Jo.
Uma Thurman and Maya Hawke pictured in 2005 in New York
After being known as Uma's little girl for 19 years, Maya is stepping out on her own in a show that will be broadcast from Boxing Day until December 28
Appearing at a screening in London, she said: ‘I felt really connected to this character since I was a wee thing. So when I was offered the role I didn’t feel any pressure. I was like “I am obviously the right person to play this part...so I can go and be myself”.
‘Jo is so durable and gets to experience such a variation of emotions and human experiences. I felt a very intimate connection to her.’ However, she did concede to feeling some pressure, adding: ‘Only after, when I realised that everyone else thinks that they are Jo too, did I start to feel the weight of the world on my shoulders.’
New York-born Miss Hawke, who has modelled for high street clothing brand All Saints, told Radio Times: ‘I really struggled with dyslexia when I was younger and Little Women was the first book I was able to read all by myself.
‘Something about Jo’s determination and her love of words and poetry was a motivating force that inspired me to work harder and finish the book. Everybody wants to be Jo — it’s her independent spirit, her lack of self-consciousness; she’s free, awkward and weird.
Maya's famous parents: Uma Thurmann and Ethan Hawke pictured in 2001 when Uma was pregnant with Maya's younger brother
‘I share her awkwardness; I can hardly walk like a regular person, I bump into everything and break things and spill and stumble. I also share her curiosity and fervour to learn.’
The three part adaptation of the Louisa May Alcott classic also stars Dame Angela Lansbury and Sir Michael Gambon. It has been billed as one of the jewel’s in the BBC’s Christmas schedule
She added: ‘My parents are actors and I’m the oldest of my siblings — I have three younger sisters, and a brother who’s my best friend. We’re a close-knit, complicated family, but we spend a lot of time together, even though we live in different houses. We’re a rambunctious gang! I haven’t always known I wanted to act. I wanted to be a farmer, an English professor or an archaeologist. But playing one of the March women is very special because you rarely see such well-rounded female characters, who see their own faults, are introspective, and work hard to grow, change and be more generous and kind. They remind us that we have permission to reinvent ourselves.’ Apple Tree Yard star Miss Watson revealed she has taken parenting tips from her character, Marmee March, the matriarch of the story.
She said that the March girls had been raised to be ‘really thoughtful’ and had an ‘aspiration to goodness, really, which is really rare and really unusual, and that is special’.
And she later added: ‘I was astonished by what a great parent she was. Having now been a mother myself, I have actually had parenting situations where I have thought “what would Marmee do?” She had such strength and patience.’
Miss Watson also has praised the adaptation a positive antidote to the flood of reports of sexual harassment in the acting industry.
She described being part of the female-led production as both a “great” and “humbling” experience.
Her mother made her name starring in violent films such as Pulp Fiction and Kill Bill, but Maya Hawke is starting her screen career in a much-loved family classic
She said: ‘It was a fantastically bonded group of young women and it’s great to be in a show that’s all women - it’s a really lovely feeling, especially at this time.
‘With all the stuff about sexual harassment and the world trying to change all that for women in our business it does feel that something really female-driven is great.
‘Whenever you come to (this story) you can find relevance and what I love about it is that they are a family who live a very considered life.
‘They are very thoughtful people and they are raising their children to be good humans. In terms of aspiration that is a great thing to want to be.’
The first installment of Little Women airs on BBC One on Boxing Day at 8pm.