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How Ethan Hawke Helped Make Lisa Loeb Famous

Season 5 Episode 509
Aired on 05/23/2015 | CC tv-14
When the romantic comedy Reality Bites hit theaters in 1994, it quickly became a pop culture phenomenon, giving a voice to Generation X. It also launched the career of then-unknown singer/songwriter Lisa Loeb by turning her song "Stay" into a number one hit.

Although Reality Bites featured a group of 20-somethings who didn't know what they wanted to do with their lives, Lisa says most of the people in her circle knew exactly what they wanted to do, including her and the stars of the movie.

"I was hanging out with Ethan Hawke, Ben Stiller, Winona Ryder, Janeane Garofalo...all the actors in the movie. They're really hardworking people," Lisa says. "Generation X just didn't apply to the people that I knew. So it's funny to be making a movie about these sort of aimless people."

While living in New York during the '90s, Lisa wrote "Stay," which was inspired by an argument with her then-boyfriend. At the time, Lisa wasn't even signed to a record label, but that all changed when Ethan Hawke stepped in.

Watch the above video to find out how the actor made "Stay"—and Lisa—famous.

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