Maya Hawke recently shared her thoughts on the relationship between actors and celebrities during an interview on the ‘Happy Sad Confused’ podcast. She observed that in today’s social media-driven world, producers are now prioritizing potential cast members based on their social media following instead of acting abilities.

“What I always wanted to be is an actor where the work is what the draw is, not the personhood. But the industry keeps changing, and you have to change with it and understand that all of these things are getting blurred,” Hawke said.

She acknowledged the influence of social media on casting decisions, mentioning how producers might consider an actor's follower count as a criterion.

“I don’t care about Instagram, Instagram sucks,” she continued. “But just so you know, if you have over this many followers, you can get the money movie funded. Well, I want to make the movie, so it’s a really confusing line to walk.”

Hawke considered deleting Instagram until discussions with “smart directors” informed her on why it’s crucial to have social media as an actor:

“They’re like, ‘Just so you know, when I’m casting a movie with some producers, they hand me a sheet with the amount of collective followers I have to get of the cast that I cast so if you delete your Instagram, and I lose those followers, understand that these are the kinds of people I need to cast around you.'”

However, Hawke noted that this emphasis on social media metrics doesn't apply universally across the industry. She praised a select group of directors who have earned enough reputation to enjoy significant creative freedom and privacy on their projects, contrasting them with those who require promotional activities from their cast.

She highlighted her experiences working with renowned directors like Quentin Tarantino, Bradley Cooper, and Wes Anderson, who provided environments focused solely on filmmaking. These experiences were distinct from the typical set dynamics influenced by social media and promotional demands.

Hawke also shared her experience of when a producer criticized her appearance:

“A director told me — actually, I think it was a producer, but they were in cahoots — told me that I looked prettier with my mouth closed, and that I should close my mouth after I speak more often,” the actress said. “Now, if you watch any of my performances, you will see I am a mouth breather. I do often let my mouth hang open…because I feel like jaw tension and mouth tension is so important to express what kind of person you are, and some people have a very tight mouth.”

She continued; “I was really upset about being told that I should close my mouth more to look prettier, because I was playing a character that was like distinctly unselfconscious. That was a trait of the character, that they didn’t care about looking pretty and they were unselfconscious. And so it was clearly just a desire of the aesthetic of the thing. And I was annoyed about it.”

Despite these challenges, Hawke continues to build her career, having voiced a character in Pixar’s ‘Inside Out 2’ and preparing for the final season of ‘Stranger Things.’

Watch Maya Hawke’s interview on the ‘Happy Sad Confused’ podcast below.

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