John Hawkes (actor)

Actor

• Born: September 11, 1959
• Place of Birth: Alexandria, Minnesota

Contribution: John Hawkes is an award-winning actor best known for his roles in the films Winter’s Bone (2010), The Sessions (2012), and Low Down (2014), and the acclaimed television series Deadwood (2004–6).

Background

John Marvin Perkins was born on September 11, 1959, in Alexandria, Minnesota, the son of Patricia and Pete Perkins. Hawkes’s initial interest in pursuing a career in performance resulted from a high school class trip to the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis to watch a production of Arthur Miller’s play The Crucible (1953). After graduating from Jefferson High School, Hawkes moved with his older brother to Austin, Texas—an experience he would later describe as like being in college because of the number of activities he became involved in, including local theater, dance, and music. During this time he also worked briefly as a carpenter in Austin and played in the band Meat Joy.

After making a minor name for himself in the Austin theater scene, Hawkes enlisted an agent who managed to find small parts for him in films. Hawkes moved to Los Angeles around 1990 to have access to better acting roles. He spent time working as a telemarketer and acting in commercials while he continued auditioning for film and television roles. When beginning his career as an actor he changed his name to John Hawkes because there was already a “John Perkins” in the Screen Actors Guild; he has noted that Hawkes is a family name.

Career

Hawkes began acting in a series of small, supporting roles. In 1988 his first appearance in a successful major movie was a small role in D.O.A., alongside actor Dennis Quaid. Among his early television appearances, he was in episodes of Northern Exposure in 1992, Wings in 1994, and Touched by an Angel in 1995, among many others. His next appearance in a major film did not come until he was cast in From Dusk Till Dawn in 1996.

Following this, Hawkes continued supporting himself through relatively minor roles, including appearances in numerous television shows including The Big Easy, Pacific Blue, and ER in 1997, Buffy the Vampire Slayer in 1998, and The X-Files in 1999. In 1998 he also took on bit parts in movies such as Home Fries, Rush Hour, and I Still Know What You Did Last Summer.

One of Hawkes most significant breakthroughs came when he was cast as merchant Sol Star in the Emmy Award–nominated television series Deadwood. Hawkes was a series regular throughout the show’s three-season run from 2004 to 2006. The critically acclaimed show, a nineteenth-century Western, was especially praised for its cast and performances, in addition to its famously anachronistic profanity. The exposure helped Hawkes win additional acting jobs, such as his supporting role as shoe salesman Richard Swersey in Miranda July’s 2005 film Me and You and Everyone We Know.

After Deadwood, Hawkes appeared in the HBO comedy series Eastbound & Down, but his next career- and life-altering role came in the 2010 film Winter’s Bone, an independent drama written and directed by Debra Granik. The film won the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival and was nominated for best picture at the Academy Awards. Hawke portrayed Teardrop, the menacing meth-addicted uncle of the film’s main protagonist, Ree, played by Jennifer Lawrence. Hawkes received numerous awards and nominations for his performance, including an Academy Award nomination for best actor in a supporting role. Hawkes also won an Independent Spirit Award and a San Francisco Film Critics Circle Award, and his performance was hailed in the New York Times as one of the best performances of the year.

Following the success of Winter’s Bone, Hawkes was offered a wide range of projects. He played cult leader Patrick in the 2011 film Martha Marcy May Marlene, written and directed by Sean Durkin and starring Elizabeth Olsen. For his portrayal of the movie’s villain, Hawkes was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award. That year he also appeared in Steven Soderbergh’s thriller Contagion.

Hawkes next won critical acclaim for his starring role in the award winning 2012 film The Sessions, which won the Audience Award for dramatic film at the Sundance Film Festival. The film was based on the life of Mark O’Brien—a writer and poet with limited use of his body due to a childhood case of polio—who wants to lose his virginity and contracts a sex surrogate played by Helen Hunt. Hawkes won an Independent Spirit Award for best actor and was nominated for a Golden Globe for his performance. Hawkes said that, in an effort to imitate the curvature of O’Brien’s spine, he filmed much of the movie lying across a ball of foam rubber.

In 2012 Hawkes also had a minor role in the award-winning Steven Spielberg film Lincoln, playing alongside Daniel Day-Lewis whom Hawkes has described as one of his primary acting inspirations. The following year he appeared in the film The Pardon, about convicted murderer Toni Jo Henry. Hawkes also costarred in the crime comedy Life of Crime (2013) alongside Jennifer Aniston.

In 2014 Hawkes was cast as the male lead in the Off-Broadway production of Lost Lake. That same year he headlined the biopic Low Down (2014), playing a heroin-addicted musician, opposite Elle Fanning, Glenn Close, and Peter Dinklage. In 2015 Hawkes starred in the crime drama The Driftless Area, alongside Zooey Deschanel and Anton Yelchin, and appeared in the biographical drama Everest and indie thriller Too Late.

Hawkes played a supporting role in the 2017 murder drama Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri. The acclaimed film earned seven Oscar nominations as well as a Screen Actors Guild Award, a Golden Globe, and a handful of British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) Awards.

In 2019 Hawkes reunited with the cast of Deadwood for a television movie finale. He was also cast as Viggo in the Amazon Studios series Too Old to Die Young (2019), which he signed onto without a script and for which he collaborated closely with director Nicolas Winding Refn.

Hawkes starred in two short films, Tomahawk (2020) and Water & Smoke (2021). He received recognition and critical acclaim for his 2024 role as Hank Prior on the television series True Detective: North Country, alongside Jodie Foster. Hawkes was nominated for two Emmy Awards, one for the role and one for "No Use," a song he wrote and sang on the show.

Impact

After more than thirty years as an actor, Hawkes has gained a reputation as a skilled character performer who can bring realism and poignancy to unusual characters. Generally eschewing celebrity and known more for his face than for his name, Hawkes is noted for his complex performances in roles as villains and underdogs, though he has also displayed the ability to play in more lighthearted and comedic roles.

Personal Life

Hawkes prefers to remain outside of the limelight as much as possible, living on a relatively small budget so that he can afford to work on low-paying projects. Hawkes has never owned a home himself but purchased a home for his mother in Minnesota. Hawkes lives in a rented house in Los Angeles and is a member of the local band King Straggler.

Bibliography

Cadwalladr, Carole. “John Hawkes: ‘To Be a Good Actor, I Need to Be Invisible.’” Guardian. Guardian News and Media, 12 Jan. 2013. Web. 18 July 2013.

Chaney, Jen. “Talking with John Hawkes, Star of ‘Winter’s Bone.’” Washington Post. Washington Post, 25 June 2010. Web. 18 July 2013.

Hawkes, John. “In The Sessions, a Different View of the World.” Interview with Melissa Block. All Things Considered. NPR, 15 Oct. 2012. Web. 24 July 2013.

Hill, Locan. “John Hawkes” GQ. Condé Nast, June 2012. Web. 18 July 2013.

Osenlund, Kurt R. “Interview: John Hawkes.” Slant. Slant Magazine, 18 Oct. 2012. Web. 18 June 2013.

Raab, Scott. “John Hawkes: The ESQ&A.” Esquire Magazine. Hearst Communications. 17 Jan. 2013. Web. 18 July 2013.

Strauss, Bob. "John Hawkes Adds a Poignance to His 'True Detective' Antagonist." Los Angeles Times, 30 July 2024, www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/awards/story/2024-07-30/john-hawkes-true-detective-emmy-nominations. Accessed 17 Sept. 2024.