Ethan Hawke is surprised he "never dated" Drew Barrymore.

The 55-year-old actor made the confession during an appearance on The Drew Barrymore Show, the actress' long-running TV chat show, when Ethan opened up about his relationship with the movie star.

He told Drew: "I can't remember a time in my life when I was not aware of you."

Drew, 51, then responded: "That's how I feel about you!"

Ethan replied: "What I can't believe is that we never dated, you know? I mean..."

Drew - who has been married three times - jokingly added: "Where were you? And by the way what me and every other girl on the planet wouldn't have given to date you. Where the hell were you?"

Ethan subsequently recalled attending parties in the 90s, wondering if "Drew will be there".

The actor - who has been married to his actress wife Ryan since 2008 - shared: "I wanted to play it cool. I wanted it to happen organically. I thought, you know, something magic would happen."

Drew replied: "And look what happened -- nothing!"

Meanwhile, Drew previously admitted on the show that she finds dating as a single parent to be a "bizarre" experience, adding that she still hasn't got to grips with the logistics of the process.

The movie star - who has daughters Olive, 14, and 12-year-old Frankie with ex-husband Will Kopelman - said: "I don't really know how, exactly, to do it.

"I'll go on a date here or a date there and I feel like it's sort of in my adult life; it's not really a part of my real world, or my home life."

Drew has "no interest" in introducing a potential partner to her children either.

She added: "My girls, they tell me all the time they'd love for me to meet somebody and then I'm like, 'I don't really know how to do this with you guys.' And that's okay! Because if there was something missing or I was really unfulfilled or I needed something, I would be true to that."