Stranger Things star Maya Hawke claims producers are casting based on social media following

Actress Maya Hawke, of Stranger Things fame, has suggested that actors are being cast in certain roles based solely on how many followers they have on social media platforms – and now her dad Ethan Hawke has weighed in on the debate.

Speaking recently on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, Maya said that some directors have been given a certain quota of followers required by the collective cast members for that movie.

“If you have over this many followers, you can get this movie funded… it’s a really confusing line to walk.”

“I’ve talked to so many smart directors. I’m talking to them about how I’m going to delete my Instagram, and they’re like, ‘Just so you know, when I’m casting a movie with some producers, they hand me a sheet with the amount of collective followers I have to get of the cast that I cast,” Maya explained.

And, they told her that if she deleted her Instagram and the director lost “those followers” then they would have cast certain others in the film to make up for the shortfall.

Maya is the daughter of actors Ethan Hawke and Uma Thurman. Ethan recently responded to the comments, explaining that he has had a similar experience.

At the Berlin Film Festival, he said he really “feels” for people and that it can be really “hard”, according to Variety.

“Sometimes I’ll be setting a movie up and someone will say, ‘Oh, you should cast Suzie.’ I’m like, ‘Who is she?’ ‘She has 10 million followers.’ I’m like, ‘OK cool, has she acted before?’ ‘No, but…’ And you’re like, ‘Wow, so this is going to help me get the movie made? This is crazy.'”

He added that it sets up a scenario where if someone doesn’t “have this public-facing [platform]” then they won’t have a career but if they secured more followers, they “might get that part”.

Is Maya Hawke LGBTQ?

Maya played a lesbian character in Stranger Things, which led to speculation over her sexuality in real-life.

She previously spoke about how important it was for her to play an LGBTQ+ character, telling sci-fi magazine SFX that she was “really enjoying” the opportunity.

“I’m really enjoying getting the opportunity to voice Robin and live in that world and be an LGBTQ character whose identity isn’t… the story that Robin gets to be a part of isn’t necessarily an LGBTQ story,” Maya said.

In fact, it was Maya who worked with the Duffer brothers (who created the show) to create that storyline after the realised that it seemed “like the most obvious decision ever”.

She keeps her personal life pretty close to the chest and has never disclosed her sexuality publicly.