Immortal smoker Ethan Hawke

Jan 6, 2010, 13:04 GMT

Ethan Hawke would "chain-smoke" if he were immortal.

The actor admits that playing a vampire in new movie 'Daybreakers' made him consider what life would be like if it never ended and he would be able to be more reckless.

He said: "There's something about knowing life is finite that makes it so precious. I did wonder what I would do if I knew I was immortal. I guess what tops my list would be riding a motorcycle and chain-smoking. The idea can be seductive."

Ethan - who has a 17-month-old daughter Clementine with wife Ryan Shawhughes and two children, Maya, 11, and Lebon, seven, with ex-spouse Uma Thurman - turns 40 this year and although he is happy with his life, the actor doesn't feel he has achieved enough.

He added to Parade.com: "I feel like all those cliche things that everybody always says about getting older, like, 'I can't believe it's happened.' But I'm having one of the most interesting moments in my life right now, directing a Sam Shepard play.

"I'm getting to do the things that I want to do, which was always the fear for me when I was younger. When you're young, there's so much anxiety about how things are going to go. But I still hear my old football coach talking in my head, '200 per cent Hawke. Ordinary effort, ordinary result.' "