Boyhood is a 2014
American independent comingof-age drama film, written and
directed by Richard Linklater,
and starring Patricia
Arquette, Ellar
Coltrane, Lorelei Linklater,
and Ethan Hawke. Shot
intermittently from 2002 to
2013, Boyhood depicts the
childhood and adolescence of
Mason Evans, Jr. (Coltrane)
from ages six to eighteen as he
grows up in Texas with
divorced parents (Arquette and
Hawke). Richard Linklater's
daughter Lorelei plays Mason's
sister, Samantha.
Production began in 2002 and
finished in 2014, with
Linklater's goal to make a film
about growing up. The project
began without a completed
script, with only basic plot
points and the ending written
initially. Linklater developed
the script throughout
production, writing the next
year's portion of the film after
rewatching the previous year's
footage. He incorporated
changes he saw in each actor
into the script, while also
allowing all major actors to
participate in the writing
process by incorporating their
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