Josh Hartnett

Shortly after arriving to Los Angeles, he caught an improbable break, landing a part in the short-lived drama series Cracker on ABC. His first feature film was Halloween H20: 20 Years Later, in which he played the son of character Laurie Strode. Released on August 5, 1998, it performed well at the box office.

Hartnett then developed a successful film career, appearing in the major films The Faculty, Black Hawk Down, Lucky Number Slevin and Pearl Harbor. During this period, he was marketed as a teen idol and a potential megastar; his unease with this public image eventually led to his disillusionment from pursuing roles in high-profile films.[7] He was originally scheduled to play the role of Tino in Deuces Wild but dropped out to star in Pearl Harbor. In 2002, he starred in O, an adaptation of William Shakespeare's Othello set in an American high school, as Hugo, the film's version of Iago. In the early 2000s, Hartnett was approached several times to play the role of Clark Kent / Superman for a project originally helmed by Brett Ratner but always turned it down, not wanting to commit to a predicted ten-year role.[11][12] Hartnett said of his decision, "It just wasn't the kind of movie I wanted to do. I turned down other superhero roles as well." He also turned down the role of Batman in Christopher Nolan's Batman Begins, which ultimately went to Christian Bale.[7]

Hartnett was chosen as one of Teen People magazine's "21 Hottest Stars Under 21" in 1999, Teen People's "25 Hottest Stars under 25", and one of People magazine's "50 Most Beautiful People", both in 2002. He was also voted Bliss magazine's "3rd Sexiest Male", and in 2003 PETA named him the Sexiest Vegetarian Alive, as chosen by voters.[13]

One of Hartnett's next films was the 2006 drama-mystery The Black Dahlia, in which he played a detective investigating the notorious real-life murder of waitress Elizabeth Short. Hartnett had been cast in the role five years before the film was produced, remaining committed to appearing in the movie because he liked the subject matter.[14]

Among his 2007 roles were Resurrecting the Champ and the graphic novel-based 30 Days of Night, in which he played a small-town sheriff. Hartnett described the second film as "supernatural, but kind of a western". He was going to play trumpet player Chet Baker in the film The Prince of Cool but did not agree with the producer's ideas and left the project.[15]

In 2008, Hartnett played Charlie Babbit in the theater adaptation of Barry Morrow's Academy Award-winning Rain Man at the Apollo Theatre in London's West End.[16] He starred in the new campaign of the Emporio Armani fragrance, "Diamonds for Men", being featured in both print and TV ads for the fragrance, thus becoming the first male celebrity to represent Giorgio Armani Beauty.[17] He has been featured on many magazine covers, such as Cosmogirl, Details, Entertainment Weekly, Girlfriend, Seventeen, Vanity Fair, GQ and Vman, in addition to being in other magazines like Vogue, Elle, People, Glamour, In Touch and InStyle.[18][19]

In 2009, Hartnett directed the music video for the rapper Kid Cudi's song "Pursuit of Happiness".[20] During this time Hartnett acted in several direct-to-DVD films and international films which received negative reviews, such as the martial arts action film Bunraku (2010), the comedy film Girl Walks into a Bar (2011), the romantic comedy Stuck Between Stations (2011), the time travel adventure film The Lovers (2013), the romantic drama Parts per Billion (2014), and Wild Horses (2015). In 2013, Hartnett was a guest of honor on Off Plus Camera.[21]

In 2014, he was cast in the part of Ethan Chandler in the Gothic horror series Penny Dreadful,[22] which was shot in locations around Dublin and Ireland.[23] Later, Hartnett's character was revealed to be Lawrence Talbot / the Wolfman, who had changed his name to distance himself from his family. In 2017, he performed in Atsuko Hirayanagi's critically acclaimed independent film Oh Lucy! (2017), which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival. That same year, he starred in and produced the survival film 6 Below: Miracle on the Mountain, which received negative reviews. He then continued acting in smaller films which were received negatively, such as the Turkish war film The Ottoman Lieutenant (2017), the drama She's Missing (2019), the crime film Inherit the Viper (2019), the Polish film Valley of the Gods (2019), and the crime film Ida Red (2021).

In 2020, he portrayed Canadian journalist Victor Malarek in the crime drama Target Number One. Hartnett then starred in Guy Ritchie's 2021 revenge drama film Wrath of Man in a supporting role before Ritchie cast him in his upcoming film Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre.[24] In January 2022, Hartnett was cast as Ernest Lawrence in Christopher Nolan's film Oppenheimer.[25] In July 2022, he joined the sixth season of Black Mirror.[26][27]