Robert Kaplow, a novelist, English teacher, radio essayist, and East Coast native, has cultivated an unconventional writing career spanning over four decades, marked by a deep obsession with language. This dedication has now culminated in his first Academy Award nomination for best original screenplay for “Blue Moon,” an intimate biographical dramedy directed by Richard Linklater and starring Ethan Hawke as the legendary lyricist Lorenz Hart. This nomination, a late-career milestone for the 71-year-old, signifies a permanent new prefix to his name, which Kaplow acknowledges as a positive development.

Kaplow approached “Blue Moon” with the same meticulous precision he applies to his novels, ensuring every word, its order, and punctuation mattered. This novelist's exactitude is evident in the screenplay's rhythm and implication-rich narrative, favoring character depth over spectacle and avoiding traditional Hollywood grandiosity. Rooted in New Jersey, where he taught English for over 30 years and now publishes his local newspaper, Kaplow quietly developed screenplays that prioritize character.

“Blue Moon,” which premiered at the Berlin Film Festival, offers a compressed emotional reckoning of Hart’s final days, rather than a cradle-to-grave chronicle. Kaplow was surprised by the audience's laughter in Berlin, affirming his central conception of Hart's character as inherently comedic. Hart, known for being the smartest and funniest person in the room, demanded a voice in the film that reflected his wit. However, beneath this humor lies profound devastation, touching on themes of abandonment, aging, and the collapse of a 25-year partnership.

The screenplay deliberately resists biopic conventions, opting for restraint and small behavioral choices. This approach was further refined through Kaplow’s collaboration with Ethan Hawke, whom he describes as both generous and relentlessly curious. Hawke consistently contributed ideas, often prefaced with humility, demonstrating a deep commitment to understanding Hart's character. An example includes Hawke's suggestion to restore a cut monologue about the origins of “Blue Moon” to close the film, delivered by Hart as someone who “can’t stop talking.” Hawke's rigor extended to minor physical details; Kaplow recalls an instance during a coatroom scene rehearsal where Hawke instantly adjusted his physical interaction after Kaplow noted Hart's fear of being physically repellent.

On January 22, 2026, Kaplow watched the Oscar nominations alone, expecting disappointment. His name being called first for Best Original Screenplay was a moment of profound astonishment and delight. For a writer who often felt his work vanished into the ether, this recognition felt less like validation and more like a revelation, proving that his words resonated. The unexpected visibility brought by the nomination led to former students reaching out, recalling lessons about Lorenz Hart from his English classes, a testament to the enduring impact of his teaching.

Kaplow explicitly conceived the film as a comedy with a subtext of loss, navigating the line between Hart's humorous resilience and the underlying annihilation of his heart. The film's inception was organic, stemming from a conversation with Richard Linklater, with whom Kaplow had previously collaborated on “Me and Orson Welles.” Linklater expressed interest in Kaplow’s work on Hart’s final days, requesting to read the script, which served as the unconventional