Josh Hartnett was a huge star in the early 2000s thanks to movies like Pearl Harbor.
Josh Hartnett was a huge star in the early 2000s thanks to movies like Pearl Harbor.
In 2002, Josh Hartnett seemed to have it all.
The big-screen heart-throb was hot property after starring in Black Hawk Down and Pearl Harbor, was named in People magazine's Most Beautiful People list and posters of his face decorated the walls of teenage girls everywhere.
He was more of a cultural phenomenon than your standard Hollywood actor, starring in upwards of 10 films between the ages of 19 and 23.
His fame from blockbuster films was bolstered by high profile relationships with co-stars, including a two-year relationship with one of the world's top actresses, Scarlett Johansson, as well as flings with singer Rihanna and actress Amanda Seyfried.
Josh Hartnett and Scarlett Johansson were together for two years.
Fast-forward 15 years, and his name has pretty much become a nostalgia piece for the early 00s.
It was his huge success that helped push Hartnett away from Hollywood, at a time when his career should have been thriving.
"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," he told Details in 2014.
"I didn't trust anyone. So I went back to Minnesota and got back together with my old friends – ended up getting back together with my high-school girlfriend for a while – and I didn't do any filming for 18 months. I'm still finding my way through all that."
If you head over to his IMDB, you'll see that in the past decade or so, Hartnett has certainly been very busy with work – although with only a few exceptions, that's largely just involved smaller-scale independent films.
Ben Affleck, Kate Beckinsale and Josh Hartnett starred in blockbuster Pearl Harbor.
He received high praise for his role in horror TV series Penny Dreadful and also stars in Kevin Hart's action series Die Hart.
But why did he turn his back on the mainstream?
The 42-year-old actor changed the course of his life when he turned down the lead role in Superman Returns (2006), after also deciding a role in Batman Begins (2005) wasn't the direction he wanted to take during early conversations about the film.
"I've definitely said no to some of the wrong people. That's frowned upon in this industry. People don't like being told no," Hartnett told Playboy magazine in recent years.
"I learned my lesson when [writer-director] Christopher Nolan and I talked about Batman. I decided it wasn't for me. Then he didn't want to put me in The Prestige. They hired their Batman for it [Christian Bale]."
He added that he regretted letting his fears take over back then.
"I was so focused on not being pigeonholed and so scared of being considered only one thing as an actor … Watching Christian Bale go on to do so many other things has been just awesome. I mean, he's been able to overcome that. Why couldn't I see that at the time? … I know now that I wouldn't turn something down just because it's a superhero role."
Understandably, his agents weren't thrilled at the time.
"I didn't have those agents for much longer after that," he said. "There was a lot of infighting between my manager and agents, trying to figure out who to put the blame on. It got to the point where none of us were able to work together."
"When I see a role now, I've got to fight for it. It's not bad. It's actually more rewarding. Depressing when something doesn't go your way, but only for a minute."
These days Hartnett is still acting in various independent productions, as well as the occasional high profile job, and has two children with his partner of seven years, English actress Tamsin Egerton, 31.
The couple rarely post on their respective Instagram pages, but Egerton uploaded a picture of them at Buckingham Palace with George and Amal Clooney last year where she said she had been an ambassador for The Prince's Trust for 11 years.
Hartnett's next role is in Guy Ritchie's upcoming drama Cash Truck, which is slated for release next year.
Speaking to Variety earlier this year, Hartnett talked about the height of his fame after Pearl Harbor was released in 2001, saying he feels more like himself now that he's retreated more into obscurity.
"Do you know what's funny? It [the fame] felt removed from how my life was then. All those magazine covers and paparazzi and all that sort of stuff was not at all how I lived my life, and not at all who I thought myself to be," he said.
Josh Hartnett starred in the vampire movie 30 Days of Night in 2007.
"So I feel very much myself now, and I took steps to make my life not as crazy after that movie came out and was successful at it and have remained sort of outside of the fray.
"When I was younger, it was important to me to kind of figure out who I was, what I wanted for my life, how I wanted to create my life without so much scrutiny. I did that, and now I feel comfortable being who I am in the spotlight if I need to be.
"I just took steps back at that time and have subsequently taken a lot of steps forward in a lot of different directions, and I think I feel much more comfortable being this type of actor that is able to take on a ton of different types of roles."
