Joshua Daniel Hartnett (born July 21, 1978)
is an American actor and producer. He first came to attention in 1997 for his role as Michael Fitzgerald in the television crime drama series ''
Cracker''. He made his feature film debut in 1998 in the slasher film ''
Halloween H20: 20 Years Later'', followed by teen roles in films such as the sci-fi horror film ''
The Faculty
''The Faculty'' is a 1998 American science fiction horror film directed by Robert Rodriguez and written by Kevin Williamson. It stars Jordana Brewster, Clea DuVall, Laura Harris, Josh Hartnett, Shawn Hatosy, Famke Janssen, Piper Laurie, B ...
'' (1998) and the drama ''
The Virgin Suicides
''The Virgin Suicides'' is a 1993 debut novel by the American author Jeffrey Eugenides. The fictional story, which is set in Grosse Pointe, Michigan during the 1970s, centers on the lives of five doomed sisters, the Lisbon girls. The novel is w ...
'' (1999). Hartnett had starring roles in the war film ''
Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor is an American lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. It was often visited by the Naval fleet of the United States, before it was acquired from the Hawaiian Kingdom by the U.S. with the signing of the R ...
'', the drama ''
O'', the war film ''
Black Hawk Down'' (all 2001), the romantic comedy ''
40 Days and 40 Nights
''40 Days and 40 Nights'' is a 2002 satirical erotic romantic comedy film directed by Michael Lehmann, written by Rob Perez, and starring Josh Hartnett, Shannyn Sossamon and Paulo Costanzo. The film depicts Matt Sullivan, a San Francisco web des ...
'' (2002), the crime thriller ''
Lucky Number Slevin'' (2006), and other films.
He starred in the neo-noir crime thriller ''
The Black Dahlia'' (2006). He next appeared in the drama ''
Resurrecting the Champ'' (2007), the
graphic novel–based vampire horror film ''
30 Days of Night'' (2007) and the neo-noir atmospheric thriller ''
I Come with the Rain'' (2009). From 2014 to 2016, he starred as Ethan Chandler in the horror TV series ''
Penny Dreadful
Penny dreadfuls were cheap popular serial literature produced during the nineteenth century in the United Kingdom. The pejorative term is roughly interchangeable with penny horrible, penny awful, and penny blood. The term typically referred to ...
'', for which he was nominated for a
Fangoria Chainsaw Award
The Fangoria Chainsaw Awards are an award ceremony focused on horror and thriller films. Beginning in 1992, the awards were expanded and an annual ceremony was inaugurated to give out the awards. As of 2015, Fangoria also delivers awards to tele ...
.
Early life
Hartnett was born in
Saint Paul, Minnesota
Saint Paul (abbreviated St. Paul) is the capital of the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Ramsey County. Situated on high bluffs overlooking a bend in the Mississippi River, Saint Paul is a regional business hub and the center ...
,
though some sources, he has said, erroneously give San Francisco. The son of Daniel Thomas Hartnett and Wendy Anne (née Kronstedt), he was raised by his father, a building manager, and his stepmother, Molly, an artist.
Hartnett was raised
Roman Catholic
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
* Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
* Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...
, attending
Nativity of Our Lord Catholic School.
Career
After Hartnett graduated from
Minneapolis South High School
Minneapolis South High School is a four-year comprehensive public high school located in the Corcoran neighborhood of Minneapolis, Minnesota. A member of the Minneapolis Public Schools district, it is both the oldest and largest public high s ...
in 1996, he moved to
New York to attend the Conservatory of Theatre Arts & Film at
SUNY Purchase, which did not go as well as he had hoped. At 19, Harnett moved to Los Angeles. Shortly after arriving, he caught an improbable break, landing a part in the short-lived but acclaimed drama ''
Cracker'', on
ABC. Although the series was cancelled after sixteen episodes, Hartnett had made a name for himself. He then began to focus on feature film work. He performed in small plays and on national
television commercials
A television advertisement (also called a television commercial, TV commercial, commercial, spot, television spot, TV spot, advert, television advert, TV advert, television ad, TV ad or simply an ad) is a span of television programming produce ...
before being cast in his first feature film, playing the son of
Jamie Lee Curtis
Jamie Lee Curtis (born November 22, 1958) is an American actress, producer, children's author, and activist. She came to prominence with her portrayal of Lt. Barbara Duran on the ABC sitcom '' Operation Petticoat'' (1977–78). In 1978, she m ...
' character in ''
Halloween H20: 20 Years Later''. Released on August 5, 1998, it performed well at the box office.
Hartnett developed a Hollywood film career, appearing in major films, including ''
The Faculty
''The Faculty'' is a 1998 American science fiction horror film directed by Robert Rodriguez and written by Kevin Williamson. It stars Jordana Brewster, Clea DuVall, Laura Harris, Josh Hartnett, Shawn Hatosy, Famke Janssen, Piper Laurie, B ...
'', ''
Black Hawk Down'', ''
Lucky Number Slevin'' and ''
Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor is an American lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. It was often visited by the Naval fleet of the United States, before it was acquired from the Hawaiian Kingdom by the U.S. with the signing of the R ...
''. He was originally scheduled to play the role of Tino in ''
Deuces Wild
''Deuces Wild'' is a 2002 American crime drama film directed by Scott Kalvert and written by Paul Kimatian and Christopher Gambale, who also created the story. The film stars Stephen Dorff, Brad Renfro, James Franco, Matt Dillon, and Fairuza Ba ...
'', but dropped out to star in ''Pearl Harbor''. In 2002, he starred in ''
O'', an adaptation of
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...
's ''
Othello'' set in an American high school, as Hugo, the film's version of
Iago
Iago () is a fictional character in Shakespeare's ''Othello'' (c. 1601–1604). Iago is the play's main antagonist, and Othello's standard-bearer. He is the husband of Emilia, who is in turn the attendant of Othello's wife Desdemona. Iago ha ...
. 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
Brett Ratner (born March 28, 1969) is an American film director and producer. He directed the ''Rush Hour'' film series, '' The Family Man'', '' Red Dragon'', '' X-Men: The Last Stand'', and ''Tower Heist''. He is also a producer of several film ...
but always turned it down, not wanting to commit to a predicted ten-year role. 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."
Hartnett was chosen as one of ''
Teen People
''People'' is an American weekly magazine that specializes in celebrity news and human-interest stories. It is published by Dotdash Meredith, a subsidiary of IAC. With a readership of 46.6 million adults in 2009, ''People'' had the l ...
'' magazine's "21 Hottest Stars Under 21" in 1999, ''Teen People's'' "25 Hottest Stars under 25", and one of ''
People
A person ( : people) is a being that has certain capacities or attributes such as reason, morality, consciousness or self-consciousness, and being a part of a culturally established form of social relations such as kinship, ownership of prope ...
'' magazine's "50 Most Beautiful People", both in 2002. He was also voted ''
Bliss
BLISS is a system programming language developed at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) by W. A. Wulf, D. B. Russell, and A. N. Habermann around 1970. It was perhaps the best known system language until C debuted a few years later. Since then, C b ...
'' magazine's "3rd Sexiest Male", and in 2003
PETA named him the Sexiest Vegetarian Alive, as chosen by voters.
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
Elizabeth Short (July 29, 1924 – January 14–15, 1947), known posthumously as the Black Dahlia, was an American woman found murdered in the Leimert Park neighborhood of Los Angeles on January 15, 1947. Her case became highly publicized ow ...
. 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.
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.
In 2008, Hartnett played Charlie Babbit in the theatre adaptation of Barry Morrow's
Academy Award
The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...
-winning ''
Rain Man'' at the Apollo Theatre in London's West End. He starred in the new campaign of the
Emporio Armani
Giorgio Armani S.p.A. (), commonly known as Armani, is an Italian luxury fashion house founded in Milan by Giorgio Armani which designs, manufactures, distributes and retails haute couture, ready-to-wear, leather goods, shoes, accessories, and h ...
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.
He has been featured on many magazine covers, such as ''
Cosmogirl
''CosmoGirl'', also stylized as ''CosmoGIRL!'', was an American magazine based in New York City, published from 1999 until 2008. The teenage spin-off of ''Cosmopolitan'' magazine, it targeted teenage girls and featured fashion and celebrities. It ...
'', ''
Details'', ''
Entertainment Weekly
''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cu ...
'', ''
Girlfriend'', ''
Seventeen'', ''
Vanity Fair'', ''
GQ'' and ''
Vman'', in addition to being in other magazines like ''
Vogue'', ''
ELLE
''Elle'' (stylized ''ELLE'') is a worldwide women's magazine of French origin that offers a mix of fashion and beauty content, together with culture, society and lifestyle. The title means "she" or "her" in French. ''Elle'' is considered the w ...
'', ''
People
A person ( : people) is a being that has certain capacities or attributes such as reason, morality, consciousness or self-consciousness, and being a part of a culturally established form of social relations such as kinship, ownership of prope ...
'', ''
Glamour'', ''
In Touch'' and ''
InStyle''.
In 2009, Hartnett produced the video clip for the rapper
Kid Cudi's song "
Pursuit of Happiness”.
In 2013, Hartnett was a guest of honor on
Off Plus Camera.
In 2014, he was cast in the part of Ethan Chandler in the Gothic horror series ''
Penny Dreadful
Penny dreadfuls were cheap popular serial literature produced during the nineteenth century in the United Kingdom. The pejorative term is roughly interchangeable with penny horrible, penny awful, and penny blood. The term typically referred to ...
'', shot in locations around
Dublin
Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 c ...
and Ireland. Later Hartnett's character was revealed to be
Lawrence Talbot / the Wolfman, who had changed his name to distance himself from his family.
Hartnett starred in Guy Ritchie's 2021 revenge drama film ''
Wrath of Man
''Wrath of Man'' is a 2021 heist action thriller film directed by Guy Ritchie, from a script he co-wrote with Ivan Atkinson and Marn Davies, and is loosely based on 2004 French film '' Cash Truck'' written by Nicolas Boukhrief and Éric Besnard, ...
'' in a supporting role before Ritchie cast him in his upcoming film ''
Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre''. In January 2022, Hartnett was cast as
Ernest Lawrence in
Christopher Nolan
Christopher Edward Nolan (born 30 July 1970) is a British-American filmmaker. Known for his lucrative Hollywood blockbusters with complex storytelling, Nolan is considered a leading filmmaker of the 21st century. His films have grossed $5&nb ...
's upcoming film ''Oppenheimer''. In July 2022, he joined sixth season of ''
Black Mirror
''Black Mirror'' is a British anthology television series created by Charlie Brooker. Individual episodes explore a diversity of genres, but most are set in near-future dystopias with science fiction technology—a type of speculative fiction ...
''.
Activism
Hartnett has been involved in various causes. In 2007, he took time out from filming to support the green lifestyle campaign of
Global Cool
Global Cool was a green living campaign run by the Global Cool Foundation, a registered climate change charity in the United Kingdom. As well as running the Global Cool lifestyle magazine website, Global Cool Foundation also worked with corporate ...
.
In 2011, Hartnett became one of a handful of celebrities attached to
USAID
The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is an independent agency of the U.S. federal government that is primarily responsible for administering civilian foreign aid and development assistance. With a budget of over $27 bi ...
and
Ad Council
The Advertising Council, commonly known as the Ad Council, is an American nonprofit organization that produces, distributes, and promotes public service announcements on behalf of various sponsors, including nonprofit organizations, non-governme ...
's
FWD campaign, an awareness initiative tied to that year's East Africa drought. He joined
Uma Thurman
Uma Karuna Thurman (born April 29, 1970) is an American actress and former model. She has performed in a variety of films, from romantic comedies and dramas to science fiction and action films. Following her appearances on the December 1985 an ...
,
Chanel Iman
Chanel Iman Robinson (formerly Shepard) (born December 1, 1990) is an American model best known for her work as a Victoria's Secret Angel. ''Vogue Paris'' declared her as one of the top 30 models of the 2000s.
Early life
Iman was born in Atlan ...
and
Geena Davis
Virginia Elizabeth "Geena" Davis (born January 21, 1956) is an American actor in TV and Internet ads to "forward the facts" about the crisis.
In 2012, Hartnett also joined
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the ...
in his campaign in Minnesota, appearing at such events as the Minnesota Greater Together Youth Summit before formally endorsing the President on the official campaign YouTube channel. He along with Minneapolis Mayor
RT Rybak also appeared at the University of Minnesota's
McNamara Alumni Center for an Obama Q&A in April.
Personal life
Hartnett began a relationship with English actress
Tamsin Egerton
Tamsin Olivia Egerton (born Tamsin Olivia Egerton-Dick; 26 November 1988) is a British actress known for her roles as Chelsea Parker in the 2007 film '' St Trinian's'', Holly Goodfellow in the 2005 film ''Keeping Mum'', and Guinevere in the 2011 ...
in 2012. They have a daughter (born 2015), a second child (born 2017), and a third child (born 2019). In 2022, he revealed he had married Egerton in November 2021.
Regarding fame, Hartnett has said, "I know what it's like to be in that whole world. I was up there for a couple of years, and it was uncomfortable. I think trying to stay at the top is a shortcut to unhappiness." Hartnett took a break from acting, saying "I spent a bit of time really thinking about whether this was the right thing for me."
Filmography
Actor
Awards and nominations
*2010: Won – Ischia International Arts Academy Acting Award /
Ischia Global Film & Music Fest, Italy
*2009: Won – Outstanding Environmentalist /
21st Century Leaders Awards, Qatar
*2007: Won – GQ Männer des Jahres (GQ Men of the Year) /
GQ magazine, Germany
*2002: Won – ShoWest Award Male Star of Tomorrow /
ShoWest Convention
The National Association of Theatre Owners (NATO) is an American trade organization whose members are the owners of movie theaters. Most of the worldwide major theater chains' operators are members, as are hundreds of independent theater opera ...
, USA
References
Further reading
*
*
*
External links
*
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Hartnett, Josh
1978 births
20th-century American male actors
21st-century American male actors
American environmentalists
American expatriates in England
American humanitarians
American male film actors
American male stage actors
American male television actors
Film producers from Minnesota
Film producers from New York (state)
Living people
Male actors from Saint Paul, Minnesota
South High School (Minnesota) alumni
State University of New York at Purchase alumni