Hawkes was born John Marvin Perkins in Alexandria, Minnesota, the son of Patricia Jeanne and Peter John "Pete" Perkins, a farmer of wheat, corn, hogs and cattle. He was raised in a "pastoral, small city... a midwest Scandinavian community." Hawkes graduated from Jefferson High School and moved to Austin, Texas, where he was a member of the bands Meat Joy, with Gretchen Phillips, and King Straggler, with fellow actors Rodney Eastman and Brentley Gore.
Career
His first film role was in Future-Kill, credited as John Perkins. He changed his stage name to John Hawkes because there was another actor named John Perkins. Hawkes played the role of Greg Penticoff in season 1 of 24. From 2004 to 2006, Hawkes played merchant Sol Star on the HBO series Deadwood. He portrayed Dustin Powers, brother of protagonist Kenny Powers, on all four seasons of the HBO series Eastbound & Down, and played Lennon on ABC's Lost. His other film roles include Me and You and Everyone We Know, The Perfect Storm, American Gangster, , Martha Marcy May Marlene, and Lincoln. In 2011, he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in Winter's Bone, as well as for a number of other awards, including the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role. He won the Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Male. Also in 2011, Hawkes was honored with a Rising Star Award by the Texas Film Hall of Fame. In 2012, the film The Sessions was considered one of the Sundance breakout hits of that year. Hawkes received two prolonged standing ovations at the film's screening. It was praised by critics at the festival as "accessible, enjoyable, and light-hearted". In 2016, it was announced that Hawkes would star in the Amazon pilot The Legend of Master Legend, which is based on the popular real life superhero Master Legend. In April 2017, Ian McShane confirmed that David Milch has submitted a script for a two-hour Deadwood movie to HBO. " two-hour movie script has been delivered to HBO. If they don't deliver , blame them," McShane said. He went on to say of the original cast returning, "we'd all love to do it... It would be nice to see all of the old gang again." Hawkes expressed interest in reprising his role as Sol Star. began production in October 2018, and premiered on May 31, 2019.
