Uma Thurman's Look-Alike Daughter Has Had A Stunning Transformation

Like many couples, Uma Thurman and Ethan Hawke met at work. The two were making the 1997 Andrew Niccol-directed sci-fi classic "Gattaca," and it was on this set that their romance blossomed. The pair went on to tie the knot in 1998. In the end, the relationship didn't last — Thurman and Hawke split in 2004 and were divorced a year later. However, their partnership produced two children, the first of whom is "Stranger Things" star Maya Hawke.

Growing up as the daughter of two of the biggest Hollywood stars of the 1990s, Maya was primed to become a star in her own right. Having inherited her mother's striking features and both parents' knack for conveying emotion through performance, the New York City native had both the tools and the opportunity to make a name for herself in entertainment. 

However, Maya hasn't been content to swim in her parents' wake, instead laboring to carve her own path through show business and the world at large. Here's a look at the stunning transformation that saw Uma's look-alike daughter become one of Hollywood's most talked-about young performers.

Although Maya Hawke grew up with the privilege and resources that come with being the child of two A-list actors at the height of their fame, she also encountered her share of hardship during her childhood. Aside from her parents' divorce — which left her wishing she could "Parent Trap" them back together (via People) — Hawke also had to navigate living with dyslexia, a situation that led to her experiencing difficulty at school.

"It was deeply difficult, you know, to be in the slow class," Hawke revealed during a 2020 NPR interview. "Every grade that went by, you get dropped down into a lower and lower reading group. And other kids find out. And there's bullying in place." Hawke praised the job her parents did in supporting her through the struggles, but she ultimately required additional consideration. 

"I did get, like, kicked out of school for not being able to read when I was a kid," Hawke recounted. "I went to a special school for kids with learning disabilities. And it took me a long time to learn how to read, and I still am limited." Fast-forward to now, though, and Hawke believes her situation may have been a blessing in disguise, informing her ability to love, understand, and grow in the stories she tells on-screen.

Before she got into the acting game, Maya Hawke had other ideas about where her future might take her. During a 2025 interview for Autre, Hawke told actress Lily Rabe that she thought she might explore poetry. "I wanted to go deep into poetry, to go into academia, and study it," she told Rabe. "My different take on poetry was that it should be spoken out loud." However, watching Rabe and her father perform Shakespeare flipped the script on what she wanted for herself.

"I get asked all the time what movies made me become an actress. But really, the three things that made me want to be an actress were my dad doing "The Winter's Tale" with Rebecca Hall, you (Rabe) in "The Merchant of Venice," and you in "As You Like It."" Hawke had grown up watching Shakespeare in the Park in New York City, but, as she tells it, "Those three shows made me realize: that's the kind of woman I want to become, with that kind of strength and grace."

Hawke eventually participated in summer studies at both London's Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and the Stella Adler Studio of Acting. She also studied at Juilliard before dropping out to accept her first major screen role.

While Maya Hawke was destined for the screen, she followed in her grandmother, Nena von Schlebrügge, and mother, Uma Thurman's footsteps by taking on modeling work early on in her career. In 2016 — when she was still studying at Juilliard — a then-18-year-old Hawke became the face of the British brand All Saints, appearing in stills and a short film titled "Far From Here" for its Spring/Summer 2017 campaign. "She did that modeling gig so that she didn't have to ask me for spending money," her father, Ethan Hawke, later joked (via E! News)

In 2017, she was featured in a Calvin Klein campaign for women's underwear directed and shot by "Lost in Translation" filmmaker Sofia Coppola. Showcasing Coppola's gritty, black-and-white photography style, the ads featured Hawke, as well as stars like Lauren Hutton, Kirsten Dunst, Laura Harrier, and Rashida Jones, among others. Hawke has been involved with other Calvin Klein campaigns over the years, and has also worked with brands like Prada, and has done photoshoots with publications ranging from Vogue to Interlope.

While Maya Hawke enrolled at Juilliard with the intent of completing her education there, the school's strict attendance policy eventually forced her to make a choice: continue her training as a performer in an academic setting or learn by doing on her first major production. In the end, she chose the latter, as she was cast in the 2017 television adaptation of Louisa May Alcott's "Little Women," which originally aired on BBC One.

Hawke played Jo March in the Vanessa Caswill-directed miniseries, a character who she had connected with through her own enjoyment of the classic novel. And while she had previously idealized Jo, playing her in the miniseries helped her to find the character's humanity. "Like I always felt like she was so much more coordinated and powerful and infallible, and then I got cast as her," Hawke said at the time (via All Arts). "All of a sudden I was like,"Oh my God, well she can't be more coordinated than me because I have to play her.""

Talking about making the jump from her schooling to the screen, Hawke added: "There's a big difference between acting in a classroom, acting in a play, and doing it as a job. It's really much scarier."

After her big debut on "Little Women," it didn't take Maya Hawke long to land the role that would usher in her Hollywood breakout. After starring in the 2018 thriller "Ladyworld," Hawke joined the cast of the Duffer Brothers' hit Netflix sci-fi series "Stranger Things" during the show's third season, which aired in 2019. On the show, Hawke played Robin Buckley, a co-worker of Joe Keery's Steve Harrington at the Starcourt Mall's Scoops Ahoy ice cream parlor.

The character and Hawke's portrayal of her were lauded by fans and critics alike, and Robin broke new ground as the show's first major LGBTQ+ character. "Even a little gesture like having a gay character is a big deal," Hawke said of Robin's impact (via The Hollywood Reporter). 

Speaking about Robin's coming out scene in the Season 3 episode "Chapter 7: The Bite," which occurs when she and Steve are hiding in a bathroom at the mall, Hawke said: "It feels wonderful to have a piece of that humanity involved in this giant action-packed drama. It's such an amazing thing the Duffer Brothers did, stopping the whole show ... for a seven-minute conversation between two people who really care about each other. It's a really beautiful thing."

Maya Hawke has placed great value on the arts and performing, dating back to before her first forays into acting. And she hasn't been content to box herself into one specific mode of expression. In 2019, just as she was breaking out on "Stranger Things," Hawke also took her first major steps forward as a recording artist. 

That year, she released a pair of folksy singles – "To Love a Boy" and "Stay Open" — which were co-written and recorded with "Don't Know Why" songwriter Jesse Harris. Since then, Hawke has released four studio albums; 2020's "Blush," 2022's "Moss," 2024's "Chaos Angel," and 2026's "Maitreya Corso." However, her first experience as a singer-songwriter actually came years before she went pro. "The "real" first time was when I did a show at Caffe Vivaldi at the end of eighth grade, where I played 45 minutes of original songs," she told Vulture in 2026. "I then got really freaked out and stopped playing music for a while."

While she ultimately got over those nerves and matured as a songwriter, Hawke still struggles sharing her songs with the masses. "It's always weird. If I'm being honest, I hate putting out music," she told People in 2026. "There is this pointing at the self, where it feels so great to write all these personal songs, and to record them and make them with your friends, but then you have to promote it, and it feels like promoting your diary."

In the wake of her "Little Women" debut and "Stranger Things" breakout, Maya Hawke's acting career picked up considerable steam. The same year she made her first appearance as Robin, 2019, she also acted for her mother's greatest collaborator, controversial director Quentin Tarantino, in "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood." She also appeared alongside Liev Schreiber and Marisa Tomei in the drama "Human Capital."

Those projects were followed by Gia Coppola's "Mainstream" in 2020 and Netflix's "Fear Street Part One: 1994" (in which she also plays a character working in a mall) the following year. From there, she began to take on even more high-profile projects as her star continued to rise. In the meantime, though, some observers and critics branded her a "nepo baby." For her part, Hawke understands the noise, but she's not letting it keep her from doing what she wants in her career.

"There are so many people who deserve to have this kind of life who don't, but I think I'm comfortable with not deserving it and doing it anyway. And I know that my not doing it wouldn't help anyone," she told The Times in 2024. "It's OK to be made fun of when you're in rarefied air. It's a lucky place to be. My relationships with my parents are really honest and positive, and that supersedes anything anyone can say about it."

For years — thanks to her celebrity status — fans have been watching Maya Hawke's comings and goings off-screen with the same fervor they employ in following her career as a movie star and musician. That includes tracking her romantic relationships, which have included a handful of high-profile couplings over the years.

Just as "Stranger Things" was propelling her toward mainstream success, Hawke was romantically linked to Gus Wenner, who would eventually serve as the CEO and, later, executive chairman of his father's iconic magazine, Rolling Stone. Hawke and Wenner's relationship reportedly began sometime around 2018 or 2019. By 2020, though, she was being linked to "Like Minds" star Tom Sturridge, with the Daily Mail reporting the following year that their romance was heating up. In the end, though, the actors went their separate ways.

In 2022, Hawke was snapped sharing a public display of affection on Valentine's Day with fellow musician Spencer Barnett. Their relationship timeline is somewhat fuzzy, but Hawke would find herself setting down roots with another man a few years later.

As with some of her "Stranger Things" co-stars, Netflix provided Maya Hawke with opportunities to spread her acting wings beyond the confines of the universe the Duffer Bros. created. One such project that was developed and distributed by the streaming giant was the 2022 teen comedy film "Do Revenge," which was written, produced, and directed by Jennifer Kaytin Robinson.

"Do Revenge" chronicles the exploits of two high school girls from opposite ends of the social hierarchy who form an unlikely alliance to get revenge on their tormentors. Hawke plays Eleanor — who becomes a social outcast due to the spreading of an untrue rumor about her. Eleanor's partner-in-vengeance is "Riverdale" alum Camila Mendes' Drea — a popular girl who's shunned after a private video she sent to a boy is leaked.

/Film referred to "Do Revenge" as a "cult classic in the making," and praised Hawke and Mendes' "incredible onscreen chemistry." Meanwhile, the Los Angeles Times credited the actresses for bringing "depth and pathos" to their characters. In 2025, Screen Rant rated "Do Revenge" as Hawke's top performance. Hawke said of the bond she and Mendes formed while working on the film (via Tudum): "I don't think we're nearly as f****d up as our characters. I mean, God forsake, I hope not. But I think we're definitely soulmates."

In addition to being brought into the world and raised by A-list stars, Ethan Hawke and Uma Thurman, Maya Hawke has also worked with her parents on a number of projects. In 2020, Maya guest-starred in Ethan's Showtime miniseries, "The Good Lord Bird," which sees Ethan play the real-life abolitionist John Brown in the years before the American Civil War. Maya played Brown's daughter, Annie, in one episode.

Fast-forward to 2023, and Maya appeared alongside her mother in the crime comedy/thriller, "The Kill Room," which tells the story of an art gallery owner, a hitman, and a mob boss who inadvertently launch a successful money laundering scheme. Uma plays the art dealer in the film, while Maya plays a difficult artist named Grace. Director Nicol Paone enjoyed their on-screen chemistry in the film, telling ComingSoon.net, "I want more from them. I thought they worked together brilliantly." He added, "They're both uniquely themselves, yet it's obvious they're mother and daughter, because they're both very intelligent, and the way they approach their characters is very similar."

Maya also starred as famed novelist Flannery O'Connor in the biographical drama "Wildcat" that year, which was written, produced, and directed by her father. "I love working with both of them. They're really awesome," Maya said during a 2022 appearance on "Live with Kelly and Mark." "They're just amazing at their job."

Moving into the mid-2020s, Maya Hawke turned in memorable performances in films including Wes Anderson's comedy "Asteroid City" and Bradley Cooper's "Maestro," the latter of which chronicles the relationship between famed composer Leonard Bernstein and his wife, Felicia Montealegre. However, her biggest role during that time arguably came via a Pixar film in which her face was never seen on-screen; 2024's "Inside Out 2."

Hawke was tasked with voicing the manifestation of Riley Andersen's anxiety in the film, bringing a nuanced approach to the character. Said Hawke of one of the film's pivotal scenes (via Entertainment Weekly): "An important thing about this scene to me is that Anxiety didn't make everything worse. Riley scored a bunch of goals, she played really well, it just crossed that line, and I think we all have had that experience. She is the antagonist of the story, she's not the villain of Riley's life."

The movie was a major hit for Hawke, grossing over $1.6 billion at the worldwide box office, per Box Office Mojo. And her performance as Anxiety netted multiple award nominations in the process.

After seeing multiple romantic relationships fail to reach the finish line, Maya Hawke ultimately found her partner in fellow singer-songwriter Christian Lee Hutson. The first rumblings of a relationship between the two emerged in late 2023, when the Daily Mail reported that they had been spotted kissing while hanging out in New York City. Hutson later worked with Hawke on her third album, 2024's "Chaos Angel," telling Variety, "Christian has been so encouraging to me as a musician, helping me to make the transition from a being a poet in a band to sort of being a musician."

The couple later became red carpet official at the April 2025 opening of "Stranger Things" star Sadie Sink's play "John Proctor Is the Villain" on Broadway, per People. They were wed less than a year later in a surprise Valentine's Day wedding in New York City that was attended by both of the actress' parents and several of her "Stranger Things" castmates, including Sink, Finn Wolfhard, Gaten Matarazzo, Caleb McLaughlin, Natalia Dyer, Charlie Heaton, and Joe Keery, according to Entertainment Tonight.

"I'm a very, very lucky person who's very happy right now," Hawke later told People of her life as a newlywed. "And yeah, couldn't be more grateful."