Josh Hartnett Biography

Joshua Daniel "Josh" Hartnett (born July 21, 1978) is an American actor and producer. He first came to audiences' attention in 1997 as "Michael Fitzgerald" in the television series Cracker. He made his feature film debut in 1998 in Halloween H20: 20 Years Later, followed by teen roles in films such as The Faculty and The Virgin Suicides. Hartnett has since gone on to further fame for his roles in films such as Pearl Harbor, O, Black Hawk Down, 40 Days and 40 Nights and 30 Days of Night, and has starred for a variety of well-known directors such as Ridley Scott, Brian De Palma, Robert Rodriguez, Tran Anh Hung, Roland Joffé and Michael Bay.

Early life

Hartnett was born in Saint Paul, Minnesota, the son of Wendy Anne (née Kronstedt) and Daniel Thomas Hartnett. He was raised by his father, a building manager, and his stepmother, Molly, an artist. He has three younger half-siblings, through his father's re-marriage: Jessica, Jake and Joe. His father is of half Irish and half German ancestry, and his mother is of Swedish and Irish descent. Hartnett was raised Roman Catholic, attending Nativity of Our Lord Catholic Grade School, where he played Adam Apple in an eighth grade production of "Krazy Kamp". He later attended Cretin-Derham Hall High School before switching to South High School in Minneapolis, Minnesota, from which he graduated in June 1996.

Hartnett was active in sports as a child, especially football, and did not entertain the thought of becoming a performer, until an injury left him unable to participate on the athletic playing field. A relative encouraged him to audition for a stage production of Tom Sawyer at Youth Performance Company, and to Hartnett's surprise, he won the part of Huckleberry Finn. He fell in love with acting and went on to star in a slew of high school plays.

Hartnett got his first job at a local video store. He became a vegetarian at the age of 12 but ate meat during the shooting of The Black Dahlia for his role as a boxer.

After finishing high school, a move to New York to attend the Conservatory of Theatre Arts & Film at SUNY Purchase did not go as well as he had hoped for, and a year later at age 19, Hartnett found himself in California. Shortly after arriving in Los Angeles, 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.

Career

In April 1997, Hartnett made his screen debut playing the role of Michael Fitzgerald on the short-lived television series, Cracker. He performed in small plays and on national television commercials before being cast in his first feature film, playing the son of Jamie Lee Curtis' character in Halloween H20: 20 Years Later. Released on August 5, 1998, it performed well at the box office.

Hartnett has since developed a successful film career, having appeared in many Hollywood films, including The Faculty, Black Hawk Down, Lucky Number Slevin and Pearl Harbor. 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 in the upcoming film (at the time helmed by Brett Ratner), but always turned it down, not wanting to commit to a predicted ten-year role.

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.

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 actress 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.

Among his 2007 roles were Resurrecting the Champ, a drama also starring Samuel L. Jackson, 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 alongside Adam Godley in the theatre adaptation of Barry Morrow's Academy Award-winning Rain Man at the Apollo Theatre in London's West End. 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.

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, Intouch and InStyle.

In 2009, Hartnett produced the video clip for the rapper Kid Cudi's song Pursuit of Happiness.

In 2013, Harnett was a guest of honor on Off Plus Camera 2013

Hartnett turned down the role of Superman. "It just wasn't the kind of movie I wanted to do. I turned down other superhero roles as well," he stated. Regarding fame, the actor 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 also took a break from acting; he noted, "I spent a bit of time really thinking about whether this was the right thing for me."

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.

In 2011, Hartnett became one of a handful of celebrities attached to USAID and Ad Council's FWD campaign, an awareness initiative tied to that year's East Africa drought. He joined Uma Thurman, Chanel Iman and Geena Davis in TV and internet ads to "forward the facts" about the crisis.

In 2012, Hartnett also joined Barack Obama 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.

Filmography

Actor

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1998	Debutante	Bill	Short film
1998	Halloween H20: 20 Years Later	John Tate	Nominated "? Blockbuster Entertainment Award for Favorite Male Newcomer Nominated "? MTV Movie Award for Best Breakthrough Male Performance
1998	'	Zeke Tyler	Nominated "? Saturn Award for Best Performance by a Younger Actor
1999	'	Trip Fontaine
2000	Here on Earth	Jasper Arnold	Nominated "? Teen Choice Award for Choice Breakout Performance
2001	'	The Neighbor	Short film
2001	Member	Gianni	Short film
2001	Short6	Gianni	A compilation of six cinematic shorts
2001	Blow Dry	Brian Allen
2001	Town & Country	Tom Stoddard
2001	Pearl Harbor	Cpt Danny Walker	Nominated "? MTV Movie Award for Best Male Performance Nominated "? Teen Choice Award for Choice Actor Nominated "? Razzie Award for Worst Screen Couple (with Ben Affleck)
2001	O	Hugo Goulding
2001	Black Hawk Down	Staff Sergeant Matt Eversmann	Nominated "? Phoenix Film Critics Society Award for Best Acting Ensemble (shared with the cast) Nominated "? Teen Choice Award for Choice Actor, Drama/Action Adventure
2002	40 Days and 40 Nights	Matt Sullivan	Nominated "? Teen Choice Award for Choice Chemistry (shared with Shannyn Sossamon)
2003	Zéro Un	The Neighbor	A compilation of ten cinematic shorts produced by Luc Besson
2003	Hollywood Homicide	K.C. Calden
2004	Wicker Park	Matthew Simon
2005	Stories of Lost Souls	The Neighbor
2005	Sin City	The Salesman
2005	Mozart and the Whale	Donald Morton
2006	Lucky Number Slevin	Slevin Kelevra	Won - Best Acting Performance Male (tied with Peter Falk) - 2006 Milan International Film Festival
2006	'	Dwight "Bucky" Bleichert
2007	Stories USA	Gianni
2007	Resurrecting the Champ	Erik Kernan
2007	30 Days of Night	Sheriff Eben Oleson	Nominated "? Teen Choice Award for Choice Actor, Horror/Thriller
2008	T Takes	Josh	Web series
2008	August	Tom Sterling
2009	I Come with the Rain	Kline
2010	Bunraku	The Drifter
2011	Girl Walks Into a Bar	Sam Salazar
2011	Stuck Between Stations	Paddy
2013	Singularity	James Stewart/Jay Fennel	post-production
2013	Parts Per Billion	Len	post-production

Stage

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2008	24 Hour Plays	main man	Annual fundraiser at the Old Vic theatre involving actors, writers and directors joining forces to create and present a series of six plays all within a day
2008	Rain Man	Charlie Babbitt	Won - The Dewynters London Newcomer of the Year // WhatsOnStage Awards The Theatregoers' Choice

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1997"99	Cracker	Michael "Fitz" Fitzgerald	16 episodes, main character
2014	Penny Dreadful	Ethan Chandler	main character

Music videos

Year	Title	Artist	Notes
1999	"Playground Love"	Air	The Virgin Suicides soundtrack
2001	"There You'll Be"	Faith Hill	Pearl Harbor soundtrack
2007	"Travelin' Soldier"	Dixie Chicks	Pearl Harbor soundtrack
2010	"Pursuit of Happiness"	Kid Cudi	Producer

Producer

Year	Title	Notes
2008	August	Spectrum - 2008 Sundance Film Festival Contemporary World Cinema - 2008 Seattle International Film Festival Narrative Feature Films - 2008 Brooklyn International Film Festival Horizons - 2008 Karlovy Vary International Film Festival International Section - 2008 Oldenburg International Film Festival World Cinema - 2008 Flanders International Film Festival Ghent Spirit Of Freedom: Dramatic - 2008 Bahamas International Film Festival
2009	Nobody	Executive producer

Other awards & 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, USA

Further reading