Ethan Hawke Is a Total Instagram Dad Bragging About His Daughter Maya's Role in Stranger Things 3
"She's the real thing."
By PEOPLE.COM/Maria Pasquini
Updated: Jul 07, 2019 @ 5:01 pm
Ethan Hawke is one proud papa!
Just days after the third season of Stranger Things began streaming on Netflix, the actor shared a sweet post praising his daughter Maya, 20, for her role in the series.
"Some of you may have missed her in last year's BBC production of Little Women. Some of you may have missed her work at Juilliard. I know many missed out on numerous high school productions — heck I even missed a few and I'm her father," he wrote on Instagram alongside a promotional video of Maya in character as Robin, a teenager who works at a sailor-themed ice cream parlor with Steve Harrington (Joe Keery), and ends up helping the Hawkins crew in their fight against evil.
"Some of you may know her music, some may not. But Ladies & Gentleman, get to know MAYA HAWKE. She's the real thing," the actor, 48, added of his eldest child with ex-wife Uma Thurman.
Some of you may have missed her in last year's BBC production of Little Women. Some of you may have missed her work at Juilliard. I know many missed out on numerous high school productions — heck I even missed a few and I'm her father. Some of you may know her music, some may not. But Ladies & Gentleman, get to know MAYA HAWKE. She's the real thing. #StrangerThings
A post shared by Ethan Hawke (@ethanhawke) on Jul 5, 2019 at 6:06pm PDT
The sweet post quickly caught the eyes of several of the actor's celebrity followers — including one of Maya's new costars.
"She sure is!! AMAZING!!!" wrote Andy Cohen, adding several lightening bolt emojis.
Agreeing with the actor's praise, Big Little Lies star Laura Dern added, "Yes, she is!"
Finn Wolfhard, who plays Mike Wheeler in the hit Netflix series, also commented on the post, writing, "Yay Dad!"
Opening up about time on set, Maya recently revealed that throughout the course of season 3, her character was actually re-written to be more like herself.
Albert L. Ortega/Getty Images
"I'm a super joyful, exuberant person, especially on set; I bring a lot of energy, maybe from nerves or something, but they kind of tapped into that and then started to write the character more along those lines," she told WWD in June. "I came into it thinking, 'OK, sarcastic, bored with her life, down to earth, Madonna wannabe, cool girl from school but that no one notices.' And then throughout the season she became more and more like me."
"I got so lucky," she told The Wrap, adding that she had "so much fun" on set.
Although Maya may have acting in her veins, she wasn't always sure she wanted to follow in her parents' footsteps.
"I resisted [acting] a little bit, because it was the family business, until I realized that it made me the most happy and that it was what I was the best at," she told WWD.
"She was always an artist, writing poems, singing songs," proud dad Hawke told PEOPLE in January 2018, adding that she "didn't discover acting until junior year of high school."
Facing a difficult choice in her career, while studying drama at Juilliard, Maya was offered a chance to star in Little Women alongside Emma Watson and Angela Lansbury — but she would have to leave school to do it.
RELATED: Ethan Hawke Thinks Uma Thurman's Career Is to Blame for Their Divorce
Although Maya previously told Elle that making the choice to take the role in the PBS miniseries was "scary," the decision definitely paid off.
"Words cannot explain. It's one of the most amazing moments of my life watching her in Little Women," the father of four previously told PEOPLE. "To see your child thrive, and to see her thrive at a profession that you have a lot of respect for, that I've dedicated my life to, I was so proud of her."
Ethan Hawke Is a Total Instagram Dad Bragging About His Daughter Maya's Role in <em>Stranger Things 3 </em>