Boyhood is a 2014 American independent coming-of-age drama film written and directed by Richard Linklater , and starring Patricia Arquette , Ellar Coltrane , Lorelei Linklater , and Ethan Hawke . Filmed 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 ) . Production began in 2002 and finished in 2013 , with Linklater 's goal to make a film about growing up .
Filming for Boyhood was stopped between 2002 and 2013.