Raymond & Ray: Star Maxim Swinton on Learning from Hawke & McGregor

A young actor like Maxim Swinton was fortunate enough to learn from screen veterans in Ethan Hawke and Ewan McGregor while on the set of AppleTV+’s Raymond & Ray. The film follows Raymond (McGregor) and his half-brother Ray (Hawke), who reunite after five years to attend their father’s funeral with his dying wish that his sons attend his service. The two have to contend with their traumatic childhoods due to Ben’s abuse and how it affects them into adulthood. While promoting his FX series Fleishman Is in Trouble, Swinton, who plays Simon, spoke to Bleeding Cool on what he learned from being around Hawke and McGregor and stanning “Obi-Wan.”

Working with Ethan Hawke & Ewan McGregor on ‘Raymond & Ray’

What was your experience like in ‘Raymond and Ray?’
Swinton: I learned a lot from Ethan Hawke and Ewan McGregor. Ethan, whenever he had a thought about how a scene could be better, he would insert a suggestion here, and the director, Rodrigo [García], would say either, “No, I don’t think that’s right,” or maybe “I’ll consider it.” Ethan would never push too hard and become annoying. He was respectful about it. What I learned from Ewan is that he only brings tea and a phone to set up because I am told that’s all you need. I carry a backpack to the set every single day because I receive tutoring. That was annoying, and I would not recommend that experience because we had to walk a half mile from base camp to set, or we could take a van in the mornings.

Did you ever watch Star Wars?
I love Star Wars.

Did you ever talk about it with Ewan?
When I first met Ewan, I didn’t realize that until I saw him. “Oh my Gosh! Wait! You’re Obi-Wan Kenobi!” The coolest moment is when Obi-Wan gets frozen like rock and stone. I wonder if it’s even possible that you could put someone in a stone capsule and perfectly preserve their body.

Raymond & Ray, which also stars Maribel Verdú and Sophie Okonedo, is available to stream on AppleTV+.