At the age of fourteen, he made his feature film debut in Joe Dante's Explorers (1985). Hawke studied acting at the British Theatre Association in England and at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. He twice enrolled in New York University's English program and is one of the founding fathers and artistic director of Malaparte, a former New York City theatre company. Malaparte productions included A Joke!, Wild Dogs, Good Evening, Sons and Fathers, It Changes Every Year, Veins and Thumbtacks, Hesh, and The Great Unwashed.

In 1988, Hawke was cast in a role in director Peter Weir's Dead Poets Society; the film's success was considered Hawke's breakthrough. He left school and appeared in Disney's White Fang, A Midnight Clear, Alive, Reality Bites, Before Sunrise, Gattaca, The Newton Boys, Great Expectations, and many other movies. In 2001, he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in Training Day. Hawke directed Chelsea Walls and has written