In high school, Hawke aspired to be a writer, but developed an interest in acting. He made his stage debut at age 13, in a production at The McCarter Theatre of George Bernard Shaw's "Saint Joan." He also performed in West Windsor-Plainsboro High School productions of "Meet Me in St. Louis" and "You Can't Take It with You". At the Hun School, he took acting classes at the McCarter Theatre, located on the Princeton campus. After graduation from high school, he studied acting at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, dropping out after he was cast in "Dead Poets Society" (1989). He enrolled in New York University's English program for two years, but dropped out to pursue other acting roles.