Ethan Hawke confessed to Drew Barrymore that he thought about dating her in the ’90s, admitting that he didn’t make the move because he “wanted it to happen organically.”
The “Reality Bites” and “The Lowdown” star stopped by “The Drew Barrymore Show” on Friday, where the two ’90s icons discussed how they never got the chance to meet until now.
Hawke said, “I don’t think I can remember a time in my life when I didn’t know about you,” prompting Barrymore to tell her she felt the same way.
“I can’t believe we never dated, you know?” He added. As the audience burst into laughter and applause, Barrymore shouted, “Where were you?! Where were you, Ethan?”
Barrymore then quipped, referring to Hawke’s heartthrob status in the ’90s, “What I and every other girl in the world wouldn’t do to date you. Where the hell were you?”
It’s here that Hawke admits that, if the two industry giants had crossed paths earlier, it might have happened.
“There were nights when I – this must have been about the ’90s – I’d be going to a party, and I’d think, ‘Maybe Drew will be there,'” Hawke told Barrymore, who responded by throwing herself back on her talk show couch.
“Where were you?” he asked again before asking more follow-up questions. “Why didn’t you call me? We still had phones.”
Hawk’s answer? “You know, I like to play it cool,” he explained. “I wanted it to happen naturally. I thought, you know, something magical would happen.”
Barrymore then jokingly scolded Hawke for playing it cool, responding, “And look what happened. Nothing!”
Watch the exchange below.
Although Hawke and Barrymore never became a romantic item, the two stars had a fairly high-profile relationship in the ’90s and beyond. Barrymore was married three times, first to bar owner Jeremy Thomas in 1994, second to comedian Tom Green in 2001, and third to arts consultant Will Kopelman in 2012. Barrymore and Kopelman, who divorced in 2016, have daughters Olive and Frankie together.
As for Hawke, he married actress Uma Thurman in 1998, but the couple separated in 2005 after welcoming children Maya and Levon. He remarried in 2008, marrying former nanny Ryan Shawhughes, with whom he has daughters Clementine and Indiana.
