HBO Max announced it will air The Last Movie Stars, a docuseries that will explore Hollywood actors Joanne Woodward and Paul Newman.
The six-part documentary is directed by Academy-nominated actor Ethan Hawke and executive produced by filmmaker Martin Scorcese. In a statement to HBO Max, Hawke shared: “It’s an honor to get to share Joanne and Paul’s inspiring life and love story with audiences this summer. I’m especially thrilled that a project we’ve poured so much heart and soul into now has its home at HBO Max, a platform known for celebrating and championing the documentary art form,”
The Last Movie Stars was a project initially commissioned by Stewart Stern, a screenwriter and close friend of Newman’s. Stern sat down with Newman, where he discussed his childhood, his first marriage to Jacqueline Witt, his acting career and the loss of his son, Scott, who died tragically from a drug overdose in 1978.
In addition to archival interviews with Woodard, Elia Kazan, Sidney Lumet, Karl Malden, Sidney Pollack and Gore Vidal, Hawke also enlisted actors Karen Allen, George Clooney, Oscar Isaac, LaTanya Richardson Jackson, Zoe Kazan, Laura Linney, Sam Rockwell and others to voice segments of the original transcribed interviews for the documentary.
The Last Movie Stars will debut on July 21.