| The Last Movie Stars | |
|---|---|
_Official_Poster.png) Promotional poster | |
| Genre | Docuseries |
| Created by | Emily Wachtel |
| Written by | Stewart Stern |
| Directed by | Ethan Hawke |
| Starring | |
| Music by | Hamilton Leithauser |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 6 (list of episodes) Preview warning: Page using Template:Infobox television with "list_episodes" parameter using self-link. See Infobox instructions and MOS:INFOBOXPURPOSE. |
| Production | |
| Executive producers |
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| Editor | Barry Poltermann |
| Production companies |
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| Original release | |
| Network | HBO Max |
| Release | July 21, 2022 |
| Infobox instructions (only shown in preview) | |
The Last Movie Stars is an American documentary television miniseries created by Emily Wachtel and directed by Ethan Hawke. All six episodes of the series were released on HBO Max on July 21, 2022.[1] After discovering transcripts of interviews conducted at Paul Newman's request for an abandoned memoir project, a daughter of Newman and Joanne Woodward asked Hawke to tell their story, personally and as artists. Hawke assembled actors to read pieces of the interviews, conducted and edited by writer Stewart Stern, including interviews with Newman and Woodward. The marriage spanned 50 years and was often cited as one of the great Hollywood successful marriages and love stories.[2]
The series takes an unusual approach to telling Newman and Woodward's story, unfolding decades of material and dramatizing interview transcriptions to create a narrative around their relationship and evolving acting careers. Hawke described their influence in shifting acting styles to a more nuanced and natural approach: "Their generation changed American acting. What happened in the fifties with the Actors Studio with Elia Kazan and Tennessee Williams is a pivot point in the history of performance. It radically changed the way that we tell stories and we're still reacting to it."[3] Paul Newman was a member of and studied with the Actors Studio.[4] Joanne Woodward also studied at the Actors Studio and worked with Sanford Meisner in the Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre,[5][6] where they met many of those interviewed for this documentary.
Many of the older interviews with friends and artistic collaborators are read by the cast over archival footage. Recent interviews with all three of their daughters as well as Sally Field and Martin Scorsese are included.[7]
The interviews were the basis for Newman's posthumously published 2022 memoir, The Extraordinary Life of an Ordinary Man.
- ^ Bastos, Margarida (June 23, 2022). "'Ethan Hawke's 'The Last Movie Stars' Docuseries Gets Release Date". Collider. Retrieved July 14, 2022.
- ^ "Ethan Hawke on Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward's Love Story". WNYC. 2022-07-18. Retrieved 2022-07-18.
- ^ Lang, Brent (March 10, 2022). "'Ethan Hawke on His Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward Documentary: 'Their Generation Changed American Acting'". Variety. Retrieved July 14, 2022.
- ^ "'Actors Studio Notable Members'". Retrieved July 16, 2022.
- ^ "Sanford Meisner (Published 1998)". The New York Times. 1998-01-25. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-12-02.
- ^ "Joanne Woodward". Biography. 27 August 2019. Retrieved 2022-07-16.
- ^ Balderston, Michael (July 15, 2022). "'The Last Movie Stars: release date, trailer and everything we know about the Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward docuseries'". Retrieved July 16, 2022.