Josh Hartnett recently spoke to The Guardian about his decision to leave Hollywood at a time when his career was thriving following major roles in “Pearl Harbor,” “Black Hawk Down,” “40 Days and 40 Nights” and more. Although Hartnett only stopped working for 18 months, he left Los Angeles and moved back home to Montana and drastically changed the kinds of movies he wanted to star in. This was also a period where Hartnett passed on Superman twice.
“I just didn’t want my life to be swallowed up by my work,” Hartnett said. “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.”
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But there was an other reason why Hartnett left Hollywood, and it was much darker. The actor revealed that he became the target of stalkers and “people’s attention to me at the time was borderline unhealthy.”
“Well, look, I don’t want to give this a lot of weight. There were incidents,” Hartnett said. “People showed up at my house. People that were stalking me. A guy showed up at one of my premieres with a gun, claiming to be my father. He ended up in prison. There were lots of things. It was a weird time. And I wasn’t going to be grist for the mill.”
As a result, Hartnett pivoted his career away from heartthrob roles and major studio tentpoles. When his team booked him a meeting with Christopher Nolan about playing Batman, for instance, he decided to pitch himself instead for a role in Nolan’s smaller-budgeted magician thriller “The Prestige.” Christian Bale ended up being cast in both roles.
“I recognized the missed opportunity to work with a guy like Chris,” Hartnett said about his thoughts at the time. “And I’ve figured out that as much as you’re worried about curating your career to things you’re interested in, I don’t believe that’s the most important thing any more. It’s about finding people who you really trust.”
Hartnett would end up getting a second chance to work with Nolan when he was cast in “Oppenheimer,” a role that kicked off a comeback for the actor in the Hollywood spotlight. He next leads M. Night Shyamalan’s thriller “Trap” for Universal Pictures.
Head over to The Guardian’s website to read Hartnett’s latest profile in its entirety.
