Playing the lead in a remake of a cult classic film from a celebrated director is always a risky move for an actor. But Ethan Hawke says there was a singular reason he decided to take on a new Assault on Precinct 13.

"I loved the script. And I've always kind of loved smart action movies and I thought that this could be one of them," the goateed actor explained to CTV's Canada AM.

Precinct 13 is an updated version of John Carpenter's 1976 film of the same name. The original, an early work by the horror director, was itself an homage to the John Wayne film Rio Bravo.

This 13 is the tense recounting of the story of a group of cops whose precinct house is invaded by armed men intent of releasing an imprisoned mobster. It's a darker, grittier version of the original with a few more plot twists.

It was the writing and dilaogue that convinced Hawke to sign on, and his fellow castmates: Laurence Fishburne, Gabriel Byrne, and Drea de Matteo, would probably say the same thing.

"You can kind of tell how good the script read when you see the quality of actors we got to play all these supporting parts," Hawke says.

"Everybody in this film has something to do. And that's the mark of a really good script: that even the smaller parts have something interesting to contribute to the film."

Hawke says it's always a pleasure to work with an actor like Fishburne, who plays the role of the imprisoned mobster.

"Fishburne is kind of a thrilling guy to be around," says Hawke. "He's an incredible presence."

"A movie with this many people in it can get really chaotic, but he's kind of a really powerful entity on a set. And he's got a great work ethic and encouraged everybody. I loved working with him, so it's hard to talk about it without sounding full of clichés."

Since his breakthrough in Dead Poets Society, Hawke has stuck mostly to working in edgier independent films. But that's changed in recent years, with Hawke trying his hand at action playing the terrorized partner of Denzel Washington's bad cop in 2001's Training Day to his turn in the 2004 Angelina Jolie thriller, Taking Lives.

Hawke says it shouldn't be surprising that he's chosen to try to branch out into other genres of movies.

"If you want to be an actor for any extended period of time, doing different kinds of movies is a good idea," he explains matter-of-factly.

His performance in last year's Before Sunset has been well-received but Hawke says he's hoping the Oscar buzz will revolve around his co-star, Julie Delpy.

"I really hope that Julie gets nominated. I think she deserves it. I think it's certainly one of the best female performances of the year," Hawke says. "But I'm her biggest fan so I might be biased."