Ethan Hawke has recently been gushing over his daughter Maya Hawke’s acting at the Toronto International Film Festival.

On Monday, Ethan, who directed new movie Wild Cat, lauded Maya’s “blistering intelligence and commitment” in her role as novelist Flannery O’Connor.

Ethan informed the audience that Maya is an executive producer on the project.

He said, “Most of all, I want to thank you for the job. She hired me and I did my best to come through for you.”

“If you see anything else tonight, you’re going to see a young artist just circle around their father, sprint out the door and pat him on the ass as she goes by,” stated the actor.

Ethan added, “This is one of my favourite performances I’ve ever seen and I can’t wait for you guys to see it.”

Earlier, the father-daughter duo also spoke to PEOPLE on the red carpet on Monday.

Maya remarked, “The making of the film was unspeakably special and one of the greatest experiences of my life.”

“To get to be at this festival and to have a waiver and approval from our union during a strike to be here and celebrate film and independent film and to get to see this movie with an audience, which is so rare now, is just the ultimate privilege and I feel so, so lucky to be here today, for a variety of reasons,” added Maya.