Josh Hartnett is no stranger to the term “heartthrob” — and he doesn’t shy away from it.
In the latest edition of Men’s healthThe 46-year-old actor recalls the term that was attached to his name when he rose to fame in the late ’90s and early 2000s, starring in films such as The faculty, Halloween: H20 It is Black Hawk Down.
“I hope I’ve learned a lot since then,” he tells the magazine of the decades that have passed since he first appeared on screen. “It was all brand new, very shiny and very interesting.”
Still, he’s not ashamed of being one of the “it boys” of the era.
“I look back fondly,” he says. “But I also see someone just trying to figure it out.”
In June, Hartnett addressed the “heartthrob” title in an interview with Varietywhere he said the attention had an impact on his career.
“It was never my intention to be a heartthrob,” he said at the time. “It had an effect on me where I had to fight against it. I really wanted to be a serious actor. What I didn’t understand was that I was in an incredible position, working with fantastic directors on fantastic projects. For all intents and purposes, it didn’t matter how people viewed me in the tabloids or whatever — as long as I was working in the industry. But I was too young to really understand that, to make the distinction.”
Today, Hartnett has made his quiet resurgence in film and TV, appearing in Oppenheimer, Black mirror and as M. Night Shyamalan stars Trap. In the film, Hartnett plays a father (and serial killer) who takes his teenage daughter to see her favorite pop star in concert — and quickly realizes that it’s all a setup for the police to catch him, aka The Butcher.
While talking to ET At the film’s New York premiere last week, Hartnett said it’s a return to work he’s done before.
“This is a thriller, like a kind of retro ’90s thriller that’s seen from the antagonist’s point of view,” he said. “… It was definitely a lot of fun to play this character. I wouldn’t want to play him every day. It’s more fun to always switch roles and try different things all the time. I’m always trying to subvert people’s expectations with the work that I’m doing. I hope it surprises you.”
Much like his character, Hartnett brought two of his four children — whom he has with wife Tamsin Egerton — to Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour in London. After experiencing the show, Hartnett revealed to ET that Shyamalan’s over-the-top direction in the show’s film was accurate.
“I had never been to[an Eras Tour show]before we filmed the movie, so I thought what M. Night was telling the kids to do was a little bit over the top,” Hartnett told ET. “It’s not. No, the kids lose their minds — they totally lose their minds.”
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