The “Lowdown” actor explained that he had to hide the injury from Phoenix’s parents for the rest of the night so they wouldn’t get in trouble.

Ethan Hawke broke his foot as a teen crashing River Phoenix’s dad’s stolen motorcycle: ‘It was a nightmare’

The "Lowdown" actor explained that he had to hide the injury from Phoenix's parents for the rest of the night so they wouldn't get in trouble.

By Emlyn Travis

Emlyn Travis is a news writer at **. She has been working at EW since 2022. Her work has previously appeared on MTV News, Teen Vogue, and *NME*.

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January 6, 2026 1:55 p.m. ET

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Ethan Hawke and River Phoenix in 1985. Credit: Paramount/Kobal/Shutterstock

Ethan Hawke is remembering the time he broke his foot as a young teen crashing River Phoenix’s dad’s stolen motorcycle. **

While visiting *The Late Show *on Monday, the Emmy-winning actor reflected on the hijinks that he and the late Phoenix would get up to while they were shooting their 1985 sci-fi film *Explorers*. **

“A little bit after that picture, River and I stole his father’s motorcycle and I crashed it,” Hawke said, sending host Stephen Colbert into a fit of laughter. “The bike was fine, but my foot was broken.”

Phoenix and Hawke in 'Explorers'.

Paramount/Courtesy Everett

Still, the *Lowdown* star revealed that he didn’t seek medical attention for the agonizing injury until the next day so Phoenix wouldn't get in trouble for their unauthorized joy ride. **

“River said, ‘Ethan, my dad cannot know we were riding the bike,’” Hawke recalled. “And I was spending the night at his house — my mom wasn’t picking me up until the next morning — he was like, ‘You have to get through this night and you go to the hospital at your mom’s house.’”

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The 55-year-old explained that he went along with Phoenix’s plan because “we couldn’t get in trouble” and, as a result, had to create some inventive methods for pain management that night. **

“I went into their kitchen and I just cried, ‘My foot is killing me!’” Hawke exclaimed. **

While he may have managed to evade getting a scolding from Phoenix’s parents, Hawke’s broken foot required production on *Explorers* to be “shut down” while he recuperated. “I mean, it was a nightmare,” he added.

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Hawke was just 14 years old when he made his film debut in Joe Dante’s *Explorers* as Ben, a young boy who is inspired to build a spaceship with his best friends (Phoenix and Jason Presson) after waking up from a vivid dream.

Eight years later, Phoenix died from a drug overdose at age 23 outside of the Viper Room in West Hollywood. Hawke paid tribute to his late friend and recalled one of their very first moments together while accepting the Career Achievement Award at the Palm Springs Film Awards over the weekend.

“I remember being 13. I was staying at a Radisson Hotel up by San Francisco, watching out my window as a 14-year old River Phoenix walked back and forth across the parking lot,” Hawke remembered, per *The Hollywood Reporter*. “I went outside and I asked him, ‘What are you doing?’ And he said, ‘I’m practicing my character’s walk.’ He auditioned a series of walks for me, and it had never occurred to me to walk any other way but as cool as possible. That’s all I thought about.”

The pair quickly formed a fast friendship by sharing their unique interests with one another.****“He’d never read a book. I gave him* Catcher in the Rye*. I had never listened to punk rock, and he gave me cassettes. I didn’t know what a vegetarian was. He showed me documentaries about slaughterhouses and the damage they were doing to our environment,” Hawke said. “He will always be a part of me.”

Watch Hawke discuss breaking his foot in the clip above.

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