Raymond & Ray EXCLUSIVE: Ethan Hawke, Ewan McGregor on depicting Rodrigo Garcia’s ‘profound ideas’ MGG

Ewan McGregor and Ethan Hawke will be seen playing brothers in AppleTV+’s upcoming film, Raymond & Ray. The actors who have been in the industry since years work together for the first time and bring to life the black comedy directed by famed Colombian and Mexican t filmmaker, Rodrigo Garcia which releases on October 21, 2022 on streaming. 

In a roundtable interview with the film’s lead stars which Pinkvilla was a part of, we asked Ethan and Ewan about the challenges of starring in a film like Raymond & Ray which captures deep emotional turmoil and drawing from their own experiences for the same. Raymond & Ray stars McGregor and Ethan as half-brothers Raymond and Ray who reunite when their estranged father dies ad much to their surprise also reveals his final wish was for them to dig his grave. Amid bidding farewell to their father, the two process their childhood memories, the impact their father had on their lives and the kind of men they have turned out to be. 

Ewan McGregor on playing Raymond 

Ewan McGregor opened up about approaching characters like Raymond and said, “I don’t spend a great deal of time trying to think of something in my life that’s pertinent to me, of course, it’s in there because that’s the only thing we have to draw on, our imagination and our experience of the world and people in it.” The actor who has played characters such as Obi-Wan Kenobi in the past plays Raymond who is still coming to terms with his wife leaving him followed by the news of his estranged father’s death. 

Ethan Hawke on drawing from Rodrigo Garcia’s experiences

Ethan who essays Ray, a recovering addict and erstwhile musician in the film spoke about director Rodrigo Garia’s vision and said, “When acting is at its best, you’re touching the same fire that lit the writer, you’re diving into that imagination. I think for Rodrigo, there’s a lot of mourning in this film, he’s meditating on some really profound ideas that he’s been wrestling with through his life and so in a way Ewan and I are looking towards him as a guide through the map of the script.” The actor further added how capturing Ray was bigger than just his own life experiences. 

Filmmaker Rodrigo Garcia, who is the son of noted Colombian novelist, Gabriel García Márquez who passed away in 2014 has maintained that while the movie is not autobiographical, it explores the way that family members view their parents, and how the same people are seen by the rest of the world. It also digs deeper into the ideas of grief and whether there is a right or wrong way to express and experience the same. This film is Garcia’s second collaboration with McGregor who also starred in his 2015 film Last Days in the Desert. The filmmaker’s past works also include Nine Lives, Mother and Child, and Albert Nobbs. While Ethan had not directly worked with Garcia before this film, he first met the filmmaker as a cameraman and had remained close ever since.

While Ethan Hawke and Ewan McGregor tap into the sombre side of things in Raymond and Ray, the duo have starred in 2022’s biggest shows earlier this year after Hawke made his Marvel debut with Moon Knight as Arthur Harrow alongside Oscar Isaac whereas McGregor starred in the first solo project based around his fan favourite Star Wars character, Obi-Wan Kenobi. The actor also reunited with co-star Hayden Christensen who essays Darth Vader after over 17 years for their show. 

As for Raymond & Ray, the film also boasts of a strong supporting cast including the likes of Sophie Okonedo, Maribel Verdú, and Vondie Curtis-Hall in supporting roles. The film previously premiered at Toronto Film Festival last month and also had a limited theatrical release in the US on October 14. As for its streaming release, the film produced by Oscar-winning filmmaker Alfonso Cuarón, along with Bonnie Curtis, and Julie Lynn is slated to release on October 21.