Exclusive: Ethan Hawke Returning In Gattaca Series
Ethan Hawke is reprising the role of the In-Valid Vincent in Showtime's upcoming Gattaca series.
It was Giant Freakin Robot who broke the news a Gattaca series was on the way, and now we can confirm the guy who lead the original movie is returning to his extremely slept-on role. Our trusted and proven sources tell us that Ethan Hawke will reprise the role of Vincent in Showtime’s upcoming Gattaca series. Considering Hawke is 26 years older than he was when he originated the role, this would seem to indicate that, rather than a reboot in the narrative sense, Showtime’s series will be a continuation of the film.
In 1997 Ethan Hawke appeared in Gattaca as an “In-Valid,” i.e. a man who was born by natural means in a sci-fi dystopia, assumed to have inferior abilities and fated to only be allowed the most menial of jobs. To raise his station in life, Vincent agrees to pretend to be Jerome (Jude Law), a former swimming star whose future goes sideways after an accident confines him to a wheelchair. With Jerome’s genetic material supporting his identity claims, Vincent gets a job at the same Gattaca Aerospace Corporation where he had been working as a janitor.
Gattaca earned acclaim and an Oscar nomination for Art Direction — losing to Titanic — but, sadly, not much in the way of ticket sales. Regardless, the film has garnered more and more attention over the years. Its writer and director, Andrew Niccol, would become much more well-known for projects like The Truman Show, Lord of War, and The Terminal.
It was Giant Freakin Robot who first broke the news in March that the series was coming to Showtime — which The Hollywood Reporter later confirmed — though at the time, we didn’t know about Ethan Hawke’s involvement in the new Gattaca. The last time we see his character in the film, he’s beginning his trip to Saturn’s moon Titan. The fate of Vincent and the trip is left to our imaginations.
Ethan Hawke’s casting in the Gattaca series would seem to indicate Vincent makes it back from Titan, and it’s likely his character would still be disguising himself as Jerome. Toward the end of the film, after realizing he’s stored enough genetic samples for Vincent to continue his ruse for several lifetimes, Jerome commits suicide by incinerating his own body.
The question is whether or not Ethan Hawke will be the lead of the Gattaca series, or perhaps a supporting actor with Vincent guiding another “In-Valid” in outwitting their genetically discriminatory dystopia.
Along with Ethan Hawke and Jude Law, 1997’s Gattaca starred Uma Thurman as Irene, Vincent’s love interest. In fact, it’s on the set of Gattaca that Hawke and Thurman — who married in 1998 and divorced in 2005 — first met. There’s no word yet on whether or not Thurman will likewise be asked back for the Showtime series.
