November 7, 2025 • 8 mins
Ethan Hawke breaks joins Battle to talk about the season finale of The Lowdown, how Lee Raybon evolved during filming, and why the finale changes everything. We also get into the buzz around Training Day 2 with Denzel Washington and what truth Hawke would chase if he ever returned as Jake Hoyt. Plus, why he decided to step back into the terrifying role of The Grabber for The Black Phone sequel, and the personal mantra that ties his entire career together.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Oh hello guys.
Speaker 2 (00:00):
Hey Ethan, what's going on?
Speaker 3 (00:02):
Man?
Speaker 1 (00:02):
How are you?
Speaker 2 (00:03):
I'm good man. I appreciate you coming on the show
today with us. You know, you got the season finale
of The Low Down, all episodes of course now streaming
on Hulu, and you're here to talk about it. So
let's kind of jump right into it. Ethan Hawk is
our guests on the show. It's Battle in the Morning
on one oh five nine in the Rock and no spoilers.
Speaker 1 (00:21):
But you built this.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
World around Lee, right, this truth story and who's chasing facts?
When you were mapping out this final episode, was there
a moment that you thought, hey, we're not just wrapping
this up, We're kind of flipping the whole idea of
who this guy is.
Speaker 1 (00:36):
You know. It's just it.
Speaker 3 (00:37):
I always feel like with a big, long story like this,
it's just so important. If you don't land on your feet,
you've wasted everybody's.
Speaker 1 (00:43):
Time, you know.
Speaker 3 (00:44):
I always feel that when I watch the show, it's like, well,
if it doesn't end, well, I get mad at the
people who made it, you know, So I think you've
got to flip it on its head and make sure
it's both satisfying and surprising. You know, it's got it,
and I love I grew to lovely one of the surprises.
I've never made a TV show before, so to get
to play a character on this kind of size canvas
(01:07):
to show, you know, it's not just one aspect of
a character. You're seeing him as a father, you're seeing
him as a Oh, every aspect of him is involved
in the show.
Speaker 1 (01:17):
So I grew to love this man, and I wanted
the story to be good.
Speaker 2 (01:20):
Yeah, absolutely, because I mean you look at the vibe
of the show and it's pretty wild. I mean, it's
got that Neo nor Gritz But of course there's that
weird intimacy too, right, Like every scene you watch it,
there's a heartbeat under it. And when you got to
that final script that was in your hand you were
reading over everything, what part of Lee's story actually like
(01:42):
surprise you? Like you thought in your head, damn, I
didn't see this coming, even after all this time with
the character.
Speaker 4 (01:48):
Well, what was so wonderful about this show is that
Sterlin har Show, who's the creator and the director of
the show. He included I got to sit shotgun with
him on the whole dream. So the idea that I'd
be surprised by the end was impossible because we were
dreaming about it together, you know, we would go on
walks and talk about I mean, my favorite aspect of
(02:12):
it is the final scene of the episode, the full
final scene of the whole saga, is with his daughter
and I guess he's trying to grow up and he's
trying to be what he thinks a good father would
be and trying to change and really be there for her.
(02:34):
And he starts to realize that being himself is going
to be enough, that she loves him as who he is,
and that's who he has to be for her. And
it's it's a really complex final moment. I just love
and Sterling shows what a great writer he is.
Speaker 1 (02:54):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (02:54):
Absolutely, of course the season finale of The Lowdown. Of course,
you can watch it on FX. All the episodes now
on Hulu. Our guest today on the show, We've got
Ethan Hawk. Now, I want to talk about this because
I want to switch gears for a second. I just
want to say thank you to you for Black Phone,
because I let my eight year old watch it and
he's learned not to talk to strangers now because of
that movie.
Speaker 1 (03:15):
I'm glad I've provided that service, you know.
Speaker 2 (03:18):
We that's kind of one of his favorite movies. And
this just goes to show that, you know, I let
my kid kind of watch things, but he's enjoyed the
movie Black Phone, and it's also kind of a learning
experience of hey, don't talk to strangers, especially guys with
vans and no windows on it.
Speaker 1 (03:32):
But uh, you know Black Phone.
Speaker 2 (03:35):
When you agreed to go back into the grabber's headspace
for this sequel, you know, some people ask why you
know that roll's dark, unsettling, not something you just kind
of stroll into twice? Right, what change between the first
film and now that you made made the second field?
What was your thought in the process of all right,
let's do it again.
Speaker 3 (03:56):
Well, the truth is, my whole career has been built
on people and when I love a director and I
just believe in them, and Scott did.
Speaker 1 (04:03):
I didn't want to do a sequel.
Speaker 3 (04:04):
Scott Dereckson, who's the director of the first one and
the second one.
Speaker 1 (04:09):
He called me up.
Speaker 3 (04:10):
I was in an airport just I had like two
hours to kill and he told me the whole story.
He's like, you know, I think I have an idea
and I just believe in him. I think he's got
a really great brain and a great storyteller. And he
had an idea for the sequel of Switching. Who the
lead was, you know, In the first one it's it's
it's about a brother and sister, but the lead is
(04:31):
the brother, and then the second one, the lead is
the sister, and it kind of it pivots, and it
was really smart and clever, and so I thought it
was worth making.
Speaker 2 (04:42):
Yeah, and I gotta tell you, not very many times
do you get a sequel that's as good as the
first one. And I'll tell you this was one of
those ones that the sequel is just as good as
the first one. So I got to applaud you for
that one. And and you know, I look forward to
hopefully maybe you know, this could be like a legendary
series Halloween or a Friday the thirteenth.
Speaker 1 (05:03):
I know.
Speaker 3 (05:05):
You can kind of imagine the grabber going on, like
Jason or Freddy or something like that, you know, but
I have no idea.
Speaker 2 (05:13):
Yeah, it could be fun, and we're excited to see
what happens next with us. Of course, Ethan Hawk is
our guest on the show right now. Of course, watch
the low down. The series finale is out on FX
and of course all episodes streaming on Hulu now. As
I was getting ready for this interview, of course, one
of my favorite movies that you're in is Training Day obviously,
(05:34):
and there's a lot of rumors going online, of course,
possibly a Training Day two in the works. And I
know you've said, you know recently in the past, you're
not really a sequel guy. But if you did go
back and all of a sudden there is a Training
Day two, if you stepped into Hoyt's shoes again, what's
the truth that you would have to chase this time.
Speaker 1 (05:55):
Well, it would be fun to do. I love a
good cop story, and you know, if you could.
Speaker 3 (06:03):
I always felt like I've done a lot of ride arounds,
you know, in preparation for the original Denzel and I
did a lot of ride arounds, and you meet a
lot of different kinds of people, and there are a
lot of policemen out there that are really dedicated to
trying to make the world a better place, that really
take to protect and serve their community really seriously. And
I think Jake was one of those guys, you know,
(06:26):
And it's such a complex world we live in that
if I could do a movie with Antoine Fuqua again
that really explored you know that that first Original movie
was oriented in the rampart scandal, in the crash units
in la And it would have to just be as
smart as the original and have something to do with
(06:47):
what's really happening in the force right now.
Speaker 2 (06:50):
Yeah, absolutely, for sure.
Speaker 3 (06:51):
What is that?
Speaker 2 (06:52):
What is that one thing the original left hanging that
still gets under your skin from that that original Training Day?
Speaker 1 (06:59):
I love that movie. I mean when you see what
gets under my skin?
Speaker 3 (07:02):
I mean when I think about that movie, really, the
truth is, I just think about how much I learned
from Denzel Washington.
Speaker 1 (07:07):
It was.
Speaker 3 (07:08):
It was an incredible experience to be sitting shotgun on
watch his performance. And I learned so much every day.
Speaker 1 (07:18):
So that my memory is just infused with all that.
Speaker 2 (07:22):
Yeah, and I gotta say it's one of those movies
definitely going to stand the test of times, and it's
one of my all time favorites. I don't care where
I'm at if it's on TV, I'm gonna stop and
sit there and watch. It doesn't matter which scene it's
on or whatever. I sit there and watch to the
very end of the movie. Of course, Ethan Hawk is
our guest on the show today. Before we let you go,
I do have one more question for you, because you
(07:43):
have done so much from before Sunrise to Training Day,
to Black Phone to The Lowdown. You've carried this through
line of honesty, right like you're always chasing the same ghost,
just a different room. So if I ask you to
pick one line, like your personal mantra, your this is
what it's all about line, what would it be?
Speaker 1 (08:06):
A line that I've said in one of my movies.
Speaker 2 (08:08):
Yeah, you know that.
Speaker 3 (08:11):
My favorite line I ever got to say is from
a movie called Gatica, which is my character says, you
want to know how I did it? I never saved
anything for the swim back, and that was That's that's
my mantra here it is.
Speaker 2 (08:25):
It's a good mantra to have. Ethan Hawk is our guest.
Of course, you can catch the season finale of The Lowdown.
It is on FX and of course watch all the
episodes now streaming on Hulu. Before we let you go,
anything you want to say to the people listening or
watching in this right now?
Speaker 3 (08:38):
Oh, just how proud I am with The Lowdown, this
show you know, uh was is dear to the heart
of the people that made it. And I'm so excited
that the finale, the whole thing's finally available, and I'm
so excited for people to be able to buy it
hook line at Sinker and I hope they enjoy it.
Oh hello guys.
Speaker 2 (00:00):
Hey Ethan, what's going on?
Speaker 3 (00:02):
Man?
Speaker 1 (00:02):
How are you?
Speaker 2 (00:03):
I'm good man. I appreciate you coming on the show
today with us. You know, you got the season finale
of The Low Down, all episodes of course now streaming
on Hulu, and you're here to talk about it. So
let's kind of jump right into it. Ethan Hawk is
our guests on the show. It's Battle in the Morning
on one oh five nine in the Rock and no spoilers.
Speaker 1 (00:21):
But you built this.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
World around Lee, right, this truth story and who's chasing facts?
When you were mapping out this final episode, was there
a moment that you thought, hey, we're not just wrapping
this up, We're kind of flipping the whole idea of
who this guy is.
Speaker 1 (00:36):
You know. It's just it.
Speaker 3 (00:37):
I always feel like with a big, long story like this,
it's just so important. If you don't land on your feet,
you've wasted everybody's.
Speaker 1 (00:43):
Time, you know.
Speaker 3 (00:44):
I always feel that when I watch the show, it's like, well,
if it doesn't end, well, I get mad at the
people who made it, you know, So I think you've
got to flip it on its head and make sure
it's both satisfying and surprising. You know, it's got it,
and I love I grew to lovely one of the surprises.
I've never made a TV show before, so to get
to play a character on this kind of size canvas
(01:07):
to show, you know, it's not just one aspect of
a character. You're seeing him as a father, you're seeing
him as a Oh, every aspect of him is involved
in the show.
Speaker 1 (01:17):
So I grew to love this man, and I wanted
the story to be good.
Speaker 2 (01:20):
Yeah, absolutely, because I mean you look at the vibe
of the show and it's pretty wild. I mean, it's
got that Neo nor Gritz But of course there's that
weird intimacy too, right, Like every scene you watch it,
there's a heartbeat under it. And when you got to
that final script that was in your hand you were
reading over everything, what part of Lee's story actually like
(01:42):
surprise you? Like you thought in your head, damn, I
didn't see this coming, even after all this time with
the character.
Speaker 4 (01:48):
Well, what was so wonderful about this show is that
Sterlin har Show, who's the creator and the director of
the show. He included I got to sit shotgun with
him on the whole dream. So the idea that I'd
be surprised by the end was impossible because we were
dreaming about it together, you know, we would go on
walks and talk about I mean, my favorite aspect of
(02:12):
it is the final scene of the episode, the full
final scene of the whole saga, is with his daughter
and I guess he's trying to grow up and he's
trying to be what he thinks a good father would
be and trying to change and really be there for her.
(02:34):
And he starts to realize that being himself is going
to be enough, that she loves him as who he is,
and that's who he has to be for her. And
it's it's a really complex final moment. I just love
and Sterling shows what a great writer he is.
Speaker 1 (02:54):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (02:54):
Absolutely, of course the season finale of The Lowdown. Of course,
you can watch it on FX. All the episodes now
on Hulu. Our guest today on the show, We've got
Ethan Hawk. Now, I want to talk about this because
I want to switch gears for a second. I just
want to say thank you to you for Black Phone,
because I let my eight year old watch it and
he's learned not to talk to strangers now because of
that movie.
Speaker 1 (03:15):
I'm glad I've provided that service, you know.
Speaker 2 (03:18):
We that's kind of one of his favorite movies. And
this just goes to show that, you know, I let
my kid kind of watch things, but he's enjoyed the
movie Black Phone, and it's also kind of a learning
experience of hey, don't talk to strangers, especially guys with
vans and no windows on it.
Speaker 1 (03:32):
But uh, you know Black Phone.
Speaker 2 (03:35):
When you agreed to go back into the grabber's headspace
for this sequel, you know, some people ask why you
know that roll's dark, unsettling, not something you just kind
of stroll into twice? Right, what change between the first
film and now that you made made the second field?
What was your thought in the process of all right,
let's do it again.
Speaker 3 (03:56):
Well, the truth is, my whole career has been built
on people and when I love a director and I
just believe in them, and Scott did.
Speaker 1 (04:03):
I didn't want to do a sequel.
Speaker 3 (04:04):
Scott Dereckson, who's the director of the first one and
the second one.
Speaker 1 (04:09):
He called me up.
Speaker 3 (04:10):
I was in an airport just I had like two
hours to kill and he told me the whole story.
He's like, you know, I think I have an idea
and I just believe in him. I think he's got
a really great brain and a great storyteller. And he
had an idea for the sequel of Switching. Who the
lead was, you know, In the first one it's it's
it's about a brother and sister, but the lead is
(04:31):
the brother, and then the second one, the lead is
the sister, and it kind of it pivots, and it
was really smart and clever, and so I thought it
was worth making.
Speaker 2 (04:42):
Yeah, and I gotta tell you, not very many times
do you get a sequel that's as good as the
first one. And I'll tell you this was one of
those ones that the sequel is just as good as
the first one. So I got to applaud you for
that one. And and you know, I look forward to
hopefully maybe you know, this could be like a legendary
series Halloween or a Friday the thirteenth.
Speaker 1 (05:03):
I know.
Speaker 3 (05:05):
You can kind of imagine the grabber going on, like
Jason or Freddy or something like that, you know, but
I have no idea.
Speaker 2 (05:13):
Yeah, it could be fun, and we're excited to see
what happens next with us. Of course, Ethan Hawk is
our guest on the show right now. Of course, watch
the low down. The series finale is out on FX
and of course all episodes streaming on Hulu now. As
I was getting ready for this interview, of course, one
of my favorite movies that you're in is Training Day obviously,
(05:34):
and there's a lot of rumors going online, of course,
possibly a Training Day two in the works. And I
know you've said, you know recently in the past, you're
not really a sequel guy. But if you did go
back and all of a sudden there is a Training
Day two, if you stepped into Hoyt's shoes again, what's
the truth that you would have to chase this time.
Speaker 1 (05:55):
Well, it would be fun to do. I love a
good cop story, and you know, if you could.
Speaker 3 (06:03):
I always felt like I've done a lot of ride arounds,
you know, in preparation for the original Denzel and I
did a lot of ride arounds, and you meet a
lot of different kinds of people, and there are a
lot of policemen out there that are really dedicated to
trying to make the world a better place, that really
take to protect and serve their community really seriously. And
I think Jake was one of those guys, you know,
(06:26):
And it's such a complex world we live in that
if I could do a movie with Antoine Fuqua again
that really explored you know that that first Original movie
was oriented in the rampart scandal, in the crash units
in la And it would have to just be as
smart as the original and have something to do with
(06:47):
what's really happening in the force right now.
Speaker 2 (06:50):
Yeah, absolutely, for sure.
Speaker 3 (06:51):
What is that?
Speaker 2 (06:52):
What is that one thing the original left hanging that
still gets under your skin from that that original Training Day?
Speaker 1 (06:59):
I love that movie. I mean when you see what
gets under my skin?
Speaker 3 (07:02):
I mean when I think about that movie, really, the
truth is, I just think about how much I learned
from Denzel Washington.
Speaker 1 (07:07):
It was.
Speaker 3 (07:08):
It was an incredible experience to be sitting shotgun on
watch his performance. And I learned so much every day.
Speaker 1 (07:18):
So that my memory is just infused with all that.
Speaker 2 (07:22):
Yeah, and I gotta say it's one of those movies
definitely going to stand the test of times, and it's
one of my all time favorites. I don't care where
I'm at if it's on TV, I'm gonna stop and
sit there and watch. It doesn't matter which scene it's
on or whatever. I sit there and watch to the
very end of the movie. Of course, Ethan Hawk is
our guest on the show today. Before we let you go,
I do have one more question for you, because you
(07:43):
have done so much from before Sunrise to Training Day,
to Black Phone to The Lowdown. You've carried this through
line of honesty, right like you're always chasing the same ghost,
just a different room. So if I ask you to
pick one line, like your personal mantra, your this is
what it's all about line, what would it be?
Speaker 1 (08:06):
A line that I've said in one of my movies.
Speaker 2 (08:08):
Yeah, you know that.
Speaker 3 (08:11):
My favorite line I ever got to say is from
a movie called Gatica, which is my character says, you
want to know how I did it? I never saved
anything for the swim back, and that was That's that's
my mantra here it is.
Speaker 2 (08:25):
It's a good mantra to have. Ethan Hawk is our guest.
Of course, you can catch the season finale of The Lowdown.
It is on FX and of course watch all the
episodes now streaming on Hulu. Before we let you go,
anything you want to say to the people listening or
watching in this right now?
Speaker 3 (08:38):
Oh, just how proud I am with The Lowdown, this
show you know, uh was is dear to the heart
of the people that made it. And I'm so excited
that the finale, the whole thing's finally available, and I'm
so excited for people to be able to buy it
hook line at Sinker and I hope they enjoy it.
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