Ethan Hawke’s audition rivalry; Actor jokes about ‘stealing’ Billy Crudup’s role, “Wish I could go back in time” confession

Hollywood actor Ethan Hawke has said that, as a young actor, he was often facing off against a now-friend for roles, Billy Crudup. The actor recently attended the episode of 'The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon'.

The 55-year-old actor shared that Crudup "happens to be a friend of mine, but not at first", reports 'People' magazine.He said, "Because we used to go up, we used to audition for everything (together). And you know when you're a kid, you think you're against everybody, right? You don't understand that there's room for everybody to find themselves, to do their thing".He further mentioned, "So I would see him at every audition.

I'd often have to be outside the room, and listen to him do the scene before me. And he was so good. It was so irritating. In fact, I was offered a play once, I think he knows this, and I had to say no to it, because I was doing a movie"."It was a Tom Stoppard play. And they gave him the part, and then his career blew up. And sometimes, I just want to go back in time, take the part, to stop his career", he added.As per 'People', Billy Crudup starred in the 1995 Broadway debut of Stoppard's play Arcadia as Septimus Hodge, later returning to the play's 2011 revival as a different character, Bernard Nightingale.

Billy Crudup and Hawke starred alongside one another in the 2006 Stoppard trilogy of plays,The Coast of Utopia. Both actors were nominated for a Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play for their roles and Crudup ultimately won the award.Ehtan Hawke recently earned his first Academy Award nomination for Best Actor for his role as lyricist Lorenz Hart in the 2025 Richard Linklater film Blue Moon. Hawke was previously nominated for Oscars in other categories, including Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Supporting Actor.