Who Is Ethan Hawke and Why Is He Playing One of My Favorite Singers?

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Some people might jump for joy upon reading that a favorite actor, author, singer, or other celebrity is going to be portrayed in a so-called “bio-pic.” I cringed. Ethan Hawke has been tapped to star in the currently-in-development adaptation of Satan Is Real, based on Charlie Louvin’s memoirs of the same name. So....who is Ethan Hawke, and why is he playing one of my favorite singers? Hawke, if this ever gets made, will star as Ira Louvin, the elder of the Country Music Hall of Fame duo. Let me tell you why I’m cringing. First and foremost, I’ve read Charlie Louvin’s book. It was published a year after he died from pancreatic cancer in 2011. It was released after he died for a reason: if it had been released while he was still alive someone would’ve killed him. It’s filled with inaccuracies and downright lies (Louvin claimed that Elvis committed suicide, three paragraphs after saying he never saw Presley again after the infamous 1957 tour that they were kicked off after Ira and Presley had words backstage). While Louvin was happy to point out every flaw in his brother’s life, he certainly glossed over his own sins. Ira was married four times, and had a child by an “on-the-road” relationship (Ira’s daughter didn’t find out about her half-sister until 2014!). Charlie, in contrast, was only married once; however, he was hardly the poster child for marital fidelity he painted himself to be in the book. In fact, he and his wife separated for six months in the early 70s because of his fooling around. So, right off the bat, I know the movie is going to be skewered. Which brings me to the second objection I already have: the liberties Hollywood takes with the lives of individuals depicted in bio-pics. I learned that quite early in life: I remember seeing Tony Curtis playing Harry Houdini in a movie. At the end of the film, Curtis’ Houdini died from drowning in a water chamber he couldn’t escape from. That’s “sexy,” but the truth is Harry Houdini died from peritonitis. So what’s this film going to take liberties with? And, of course, there’s the music. Sissy Spacek and Joaquin Phoenix did their own singing in Coal Miner’s Daughter and Walk the Line, respectively. But there was something singularly unique about Ira Louvin’s tenor. That’s what made the Louvin Brothers completely different from any other (and every other) brother duet in country music. I’ve heard tons of people cover the Louvins’ best-known song, “When I Stop Dreaming,” and in most cases it’s downright painful to listen to someone else. (Quick aside: I got kicked out of a Don Henley fan group because I badmouthed his rendition of the song on Cass County. Someone said, “Why don’t you wait until the album comes out?,” to which I replied, “How much of ‘Desperado’ do you have to hear to know whether the cover is good or bad?”) According to the news reports, producers are trying to find funding for this film, meaning there’s no guarantee it’ll ever get made. I don’t wish anyone any ill will, but this is one film I can gleefully live without. The Louvin Brothers: