On the heels of her breakout role in Stranger Things, Maya Hawke has gone her own way as an artist— both as an actor and singer-songwriter. That’s especially true on her striking new record, Chaos Angel.

We begin our conversation by diving into this third record of hers (5:37 ), the ‘emotional pendulum’ that guided her creative process (9:15 ), and how director Paul Thomas Anderson’s Magnolia inspired the first track (16:12 ). Then, Maya discusses a piece by novelist Flannery O’Connor (21:20 ) that shaped her portrayal of the Southern Gothic writer in the new film, Wildcat (25:28 ), directed by her father (Ethan Hawke). 

On the back-half, we sit with Hawke’s childhood growing up in a household of actors (41:55 ), a passage from her father reflecting on Before Midnight (45:10 ), the connective tissue between her latest projects (55:10 ), and how she’s recently found a place of peace in the aftermath of her new album, Chaos Angel (59:36 ).

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