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\u201cYes, I\u2019m a nepo father,\u201d Ethan Hawke<\/strong> cracked at the world premiere of Wildcat<\/em> in Telluride, bright and early on Friday morning. The Oscar- and Tony-nominee wanted to get the obvious out of the way: Perhaps his most cinematically ambitious film as a director was starring his daughter, Maya Hawke,<\/strong> in by far the biggest role in her career. Wildcat<\/em> marked the result of years of talking about Flannery O\u2019Connor between the two, going back to Maya\u2019s audition for Juilliard. (She prepared a monologue out of O\u2019Connor\u2019s famous letters, and was accepted.) So the crowd laughed at the joke, then settled in for a rich, layered, elliptical take on the iconic and now-controversial author\u2014one that turned out to be more of a family affair than even the dual Hawke credits could\u2019ve revealed alone.<\/p>\n Credit Laura Linney<\/strong> for that. Linney has known Ethan Hawke for decades; they starred together in the latter\u2019s Broadway debut, The Seagull<\/em>, in 1992, and have been close friends and occasional collaborators ever since. Ethan\u2019s decision to cast her as Flannery\u2019s\u2014and Maya\u2019s\u2014mother holds intense significance, as does his narrative focus on the complex and tight bond between the two women. The film argues that a great deal of O\u2019Connor\u2019s radical, groundbreaking qualities as a writer are rooted in her upbringing in Georgia, both her connection to the South and her frustration at some of its stifling attitudes. A sense of memoir between the Hawkes and Linney seeps into the material. They each brought their ideas, sensibilities, and particular talents to the film, culminating in a singular collaboration.<\/p>\n That\u2019s most evident when I meet the trio at a nearby caf\u00e9, sitting under the Colorado clouds at an outside table. There\u2019s joy and curiosity and maybe a bit of anticipation for the first reactions to the smart, tricky Wildcat<\/em>\u2014which interweaves O\u2019Connor\u2019s biography with reenactments of her short stories, with Hawke, Linney, and other actors stepping into multiple roles. We get into a deep, often funny chat about what these three artists mean to each other, and how they brought all that to this film. (Wildcat is currently seeking U.S. distribution and has secured a SAG-AFTRA interim agreement, meaning the striking guild has permitted its stars to promote the film.)<\/em>\u00a0<\/p>\n Vanity Fair:<\/strong><\/em> Maya, you brought this idea to Ethan, to write and direct a film about Flannery O\u2019Connor. What was your discovery process with O\u2019Connor\u2019s work, and what made you think of your dad as the filmmaker for this?<\/strong><\/p>\n