There was a time in the early aughts when Josh Hartnett seemed to be everywhere, transitioning from smaller roles in The Virgin Suicides and other movies to the lead in some of his best movies like Pearl Harbor and Black Hawk Down. Then his rise seemingly fell off and we didn’t hear as much about Mr. Hartnett for years before he spoke about working with Christopher Nolan in Oppenheimer last year. So why did Josh Hartnett disappear from Hollywood? He tells the tale.
Back in 2014 Hartnett was already living a bit in obscurity and he told the now–defunct Details Magazine that fame was really getting to him.
I was on the cover of every magazine. I couldn't really go anywhere. I didn't feel comfortable in my own skin. I was alone. I didn't trust anyone. I'm still finding my way through all that.
So what did he do? He took a break from Hollywood. And that break from Hollywood led him in a different direction in his career and personal life. It seems like Hartnett has been away from our screens for quite some time, but a new profile in The Guardian indicates he only took 18 months off work. When he came back, it was at a less significant level -- much of which stems from the direction his choices took him as well. He noted:
I just didn’t want my life to be swallowed up by my work. And there was a notion at that time you just kind of give it all up. And you saw what happened to some people back then. They got obliterated by it. I didn’t want that for myself.
The actor and his now-wife Tamsin Egerton ultimately settled in Hampshire in the UK where he could live more circumspectly than he would in Los Angeles or New York. He’s able to stay with his wife and four children on a marriage visa, but that also means he’s only allowed out of the country 180 days a year. This in turn means he can take one major project elsewhere, like a movie, or some smaller roles, like his recent stint on FX and Hulu’s The Bear.
He famously said no to Superman. (In fact, he allegedly said “no” to Superman twice.) He took roles in smaller movies you may never have heard of like Stuck Between Stations and The Lovers. For a time between 2014 and 2016 he did star in the more high-profile series Penny Dreadful for Showtime; it was convenient. It filmed in the UK.
Now, Josh Hartnett has landed roles in The Bear and in a 2024 movie release, M Night Shyamalan’s Trap, a leading man gig which he calls a "pivot" from much of the rest of his career. He seems well on his way to becoming a household name again, particularly after his turns in Oppenheimer as a steadfast nuclear physicist and in a memorable Black Mirror episode. It’s Trap that has him front and center once more, however, but whether this is a fluke or the first step in a return to leading man form has yet to be seen.
