Ethan Hawke has reflected on the "humiliating" public attention he received amid his relationship with Uma Thurman.

The Training Day actor and Pulp Fiction actress were married from 1998 until their divorce was finalised in 2005. The pair shares daughter Maya, 27, and son Levon, 23.

In an interview for GQ Hype published on Monday, Ethan insisted he always felt uncomfortable when being courted by the paparazzi while he was with Uma.

"It's humiliating. It's almost humiliating even when they're saying positive things," he claimed.

Ethan went on to recount what it was like falling in love with Uma on the set of the 1997 film Gattaca.

"Have you ever played Spin the Bottle?" the 54-year-old asked. "There's a certain intimacy to the work that we do. Imaginative intimacy. It's such a high. It feels dangerous and thrilling. It turns the temperature up in your life. It can be like falling in love at summer camp. It doesn't have any connection to the dailiness of real life. That's the danger of it."

Elsewhere in the conversation, Ethan argued that he is "allergic" to being famous and never had a desire to lead a big movie franchise.

"Having a trademark by my name and making a million dollars - that wasn't part of my dream," he continued, emphasising that he only signs up for projects he is truly interested in. "There are people who think I'm only in horror movies. There are people who think, 'What have you done since Training Day?' There are people who think all I should ever do is work with Richard Linklater. My career has kinda been a little spiderwebby."

Ethan is currently promoting the biographical comedy drama, Blue Moon. The film opens in select cinemas from 17 October.