It’s Absurd That Ethan Hawke Didn’t Get an Oscar Nomination for This Brilliant 2010s Drama
Ethan Hawke delivered a powerful performance as Reverend Toller in Paul Schrader’s 2018 film First Reformed, a role that clearly deserved an Oscar nomination. For over three decades, Hawke has shown incredible range across various genres and production scales, proving himself as one of the most reliable actors in the industry.
Known as a character actor with the charisma of a movie star, Hawke’s recent work in 2025, including Black Phone 2 and Richard Linklater’s Blue Moon, highlights his versatility. He excels equally as a horror villain, an action hero, or delivering nuanced performances for auteur filmmakers. Over the years, he has evolved impressively, especially noticeable beyond the span of Linklater’s famed Before trilogy.
First Reformed: Hawke's Career-Defining Role
In First Reformed, Hawke plays a tormented church pastor grappling with crises of faith and environmental despair in upstate New York. Directed by Paul Schrader, a master of intense character studies, the film showcases Hawke’s simmering rage and haunted presence, making it one of the standout films of the 2010s.
“He was rudely snubbed of an Oscar nomination despite proverbially setting the screen on fire with his simmering rage and haunted aura.”
Paul Schrader's Recognition
Though Hawke was overlooked, Schrader received his first-ever Oscar nomination for the film’s screenplay, marking the movie's only acknowledgment during awards season.
“The stirring psychological drama about the all-consuming fear of global apocalypse due to global warming was Paul Schrader's first nomination in his long and storied career, earning the film's lone nomination for Best Original Screenplay.”
Summary
Ethan Hawke’s haunting and unforgettable performance in First Reformed remains one of the finest of his career, making the lack of an Oscar nomination a baffling oversight.
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