"Sharp as a tack": Ethan Hawke recalls working with The Lowdown co-star Keith David; praises him saying "he really took me off guard"

Keith David plays the character of Marty in FX’s crime drama The Lowdown. Marty is not your ordinary private investigator; he is suave, somewhat mysterious, and exudes a quiet self-assuredness that people gravitate to. Eventually, he forges a bond with Lee Raybon, portrayed by Ethan Hawke, who is a citizen journalist always searching for the truth about corruption in Tulsa.

Ethan Hawke and Kyle MacLachlan recently sat down to have a chat about the making of The Lowdown. Somewhere in the conversation, Keith’s name popped up, and it turns out that he managed to impress both of them. Both of them seemed a bit caught off guard by how great he was. Kyle said he felt a little nervous before meeting Keith, but it turned out he was just this super kind, easygoing guy.

Then Ethan jumped in and said that even when they were shooting late at night, Keith stayed sharp, always focused, always in the moment.

Ethan Hawke recalls working with The Lowdown co-star Keith David

Ethan Hawke and Kyle MacLachlan “sit down over pie” to chat about their new show, The Lowdown.

Kyle MacLachlan mentioned:

“We both work with Keith David a bit… I think when I came in, I was a little intimidated. It’s Keith David. And he couldn’t have been sweeter.”

To which Ethan Hawke added:

“I know He really took me off guard. His history in the theater is so deep. My first scene with him was at 4 in the morning. You know it’s one thing when you’re 15, doing a night shoot. Like, there’s only so much coffee you can drink before the face starts to fall. But Keith is sharp as a tack all night long.”

For the uninitiated, Marty is a smooth-talking private investigator who gets hired by Donald, a big shot in town, to tail Lee Raybon, Ethan Hawke’s character. At first, Marty keeps things strictly business, loyal to Donald and not letting much slip past that professional mask. But as the story of The Lowdown rolls on, you start to see there is more going on under the surface. He is wrestling with all the messiness that comes with corruption and power games in Tulsa, and it is not as simple as just doing his job.

His loyalty gets pushed to the limit, especially when Donald dangles a promotion: lead his security team, but only if Marty messes with Betty Jo. That move doesn’t go over well with Lee’s circle, and things get heated. Instead of caving, Marty stands his ground and won’t sell Lee out. He has his own code, and it makes his life a lot trickier. You see flashes of his real self, too. He goes on a blind date, stumbles through awkward moments, and those little things make him more than just a hard-nosed P.I.

His connection with Lee changes along the way. Marty starts off watching from the sidelines, but ends up closer to an ally, even if it’s complicated. Trust doesn’t come easy for either of them, and Marty is always walking that line between loyalty and self-preservation.

Then comes the finale of The Lowdown, where Marty gets hurt. Lee, thinking on his feet, gives him some bovine muscle relaxants for the pain. It is an oddball moment: Keith David nails it, letting Marty drop the tough guy act and play up the comedy. Marty’s loopy complaints and random chatter show off a softer, goofier side you wouldn’t expect in all the chaos.

All through The Lowdown, Marty has got that old-school private eye vibe: clever, charming, but with a lot more going on beneath the surface.

About The Lowdown

The Lowdown premiered on FX on September 23, 2025, dropping its first two episodes at once. Season one had eight episodes, and the finale premiered on November 4, 2025. All the episodes of the show are now available to stream on Hulu.

Set in modern-day Tulsa, Oklahoma, The Lowdown is a neo-noir crime drama from Sterlin Harjo, with Ethan Hawke leading the cast. Critics jumped on board right away, loving the show’s mix of crime, sharp humor, and smart social commentary.

The story centers on Lee Raybon, played by Hawke. He runs a bookstore and calls himself a “truthstorian”. Basically, he is a citizen journalist obsessed with digging up the real stories behind Tulsa’s power games and corruption. Lee finds himself up against some serious local players, including a powerful family that takes center stage as the main threat.

The show blends noir, comedy, and drama, moving easily from tense moments to dark laughs. It has got a great supporting cast, too, which really helps flesh out the world and the mystery at the heart of the story.

So, what is next for The Lowdown? So far, nobody knows. By November 2025, FX and Hulu still hadn’t said if it would get a second season. They usually wait to see how a new show lands before deciding. Still, there is a lot to feel good about. Critics love The Lowdown so far.

It has a 98% on Rotten Tomatoes, which is about as close to perfect as you can get. They are calling out the show’s neo-noir style: apparently, it’s not just stylish, but surprisingly deep, mixing sharp social commentary with a dark sense of humor.

Over on IMDb, regular viewers seem happy too. The Lowdown is sitting at around 7.2 out of 10, based on more than 2,000 ratings. If you look at the episode breakdowns, most of them score between 7.5 and 8.4. So, people are sticking with it and seem to like what they are seeing.

Metacritic backs that up with an 86 out of 100. The critics there are pointing out the smart writing, the atmosphere that pulls you in, and characters that actually feel complicated. Major outlets, like The Guardian, have praised Ethan Hawke’s performance and the way the show mixes humor, noir, and social critique. They also mention the Tulsa, Oklahoma, setting and how Sterlin Harjo, the creator, turns familiar TV formulas upside down by showing everything through an Indigenous-led perspective, even though the main character is white.

The buzz is definitely there. The reviews are glowing, and the show is making some noise with streaming audiences. That said, streaming numbers are not publicly available. In today’s world, hours-watched and rankings really matter, and without those, it’s tough to say if The Lowdown is a true breakout hit.

If the streaming viewership is strong and keeps climbing, that all but guarantees a second season. But if those numbers are soft, the decent-but-not-blockbuster live numbers might not be enough. There is definitely momentum and potential for The Lowdown Season 2, but for now, it’s still waiting for the official go-ahead.

All this being said, Harjo sounded excited for the future of the show, if any. In an interview with Collider, Harjo revealed:

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“The Rockford Files did a new story with every episode. I could do a new story every season. That’s the beauty of this story. The characters that surround Lee on the block and his friends are all there still. They’re all entertaining. And also, he’s a journalist. What do journalists do? Well, they’ve got to move onto another story.”

But for now, if you are a fan, you can just cross your fingers.

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