With one movie, Josh Hartnett became Hollywood's biggest heartthrob. Then he disappeared.

At the start of the new millennium, Josh Hartnett was destined to be the next big name in Hollywood.

Hartnett, who was compared to the likes of Matt Damon and Leonardo DiCaprio, virtually dominated the Hollywood scene between 2001 and 2003, starring in multiple films between the ages of 19 and 23.

But within just years of his career skyrocketing, the now 46-year-old faded away from the spotlight.

This year, the actor is making a rare turn as a leading man on the big screen with M. Night Shyamalan's latest thriller Trap, which will see the former heartthrob step into the shoes of a twisted villain.

Watch the trailer for Trap, which Hartnett stars in. Post continues after video.

On the media trial for the film, Hartnett has opened up about why he seemingly disappeared from Hollywood just when he was blowing up. 

In a chat with the Guardian UK, he admitted that things shifted for him when "people's attention to me" had become "borderline unhealthy." 

The actor went on to describe an incident of being stalked. "People showed up at my house. People that were stalking me," he said, adding that when he was just 27 years old "a guy showed up at one of my premieres with a gun, claiming to be my father. He ended up in prison."

These moments added up to a feeling that Hartnett wasn't meant for this life. "There were lots of things. It was a weird time. And I wasn't going to be grist for the mill."

In an interview with the Observer, he admitted "I just didn't want my life to be swallowed up by my work. 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."

Josh Hartnett attends the UK screening of Trap. Image: Getty. 

Hartnett was born in 1978 in Saint Paul, Minnesota to parents Daniel Thomas Hartnett and Wendy Anne Kronstedt. 

He was raised by his building manager father and his stepmother, Molly, alongside his three younger half-siblings.

During his high school days, Hartnett had little interest in acting as he was more interested in sports.

But when an injury forced him to stop playing football, he turned his attention to acting, auditioning for the role of Huckleberry Finn in a stage production of Tom Sawyer.

After graduating high school, Hartnett moved to New York where he attended the Conservatory of Theatre Arts & Film.

After a year, he jumped ship to California and almost immediately made a name for himself in Hollywood with his role on the drama series Cracker: Mind Over Murder, which ran from 1997 to 1999.

"I got kicked out of acting school, so I had to do something," Hartnett reportedly told Rolling Stone in 1999.

"Well, they didn't really kick me out; they just said I could leave if I wanted to."

While appearing on the TV show, the young actor earned roles in the 1998 slasher horror film Halloween H20: 20 Years Later opposite Jamie Lee Curtis and science fiction horror The Faculty, which starred the likes of Salma Hayek and Elijah Wood.

At the time, the New York Post claimed: "Josh Hartnett could become a Hollywood legend."

In his early twenties, Hartnett landed roles in high-profile films Pearl Harbour and Black Hawk Down, before going on to appear in the comedy 40 Days and 40 Nights, thriller Sin City and O, which was a modern re-telling of Shakespeare's Othello.

In the early 2000s, the actor's face was virtually everywhere.

As for his personal life, Hartnett was stalked by the paparazzi, and linked to several of his famous co-stars.

Scarlett Johansson and Josh Hartnett. Image: Getty. He dated Julia Stiles for two years after meeting her on the set of O, and had a high-profile year-long relationship with Scarlett Johansson after they starred in The Black Dahlia in 2006.

Later on in his career, Hartnett was also linked to Gemma Ward, Rihanna, Mischa Barton, and Amanda Seyfried.

When asked about dating his co-stars, Hartnett told Elle: "I don't recommend it to young actors. You can make a lot of enemies in the business that way. But when you work with somebody every day, it's like trial dating. You develop a fantasy about them. It doesn't always work out, does it?"

At the peak of his acting career, Hartnett was seen by many as one of Hollywood's most promising stars.

But by 2006, he seemingly dropped off the public radar.

"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, according to news.com.au.

"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."

For 18 months, Hartnett took a complete break from Hollywood.

"I think it can be an unhealthy environment," he told The Huffington Post of his departure. 

"To get so consumed with chasing a goal that doesn't necessarily have to define you is a fool's errand and I wanted to have a healthy perspective on it. Not only a healthy perspective on the fame itself, but the pursuit of wealth and the pursuit of surface values."

Although many fans wonder whether Hartnett's career simply faltered once he returned to Hollywood, the actor's change of pace was largely down to his own desire to avoid being pigeonholed.

In fact, at the peak of his career, Hartnett famously turned down the role of Clark Kent in Superman, which ended up starring Brandon Routh instead. 

He also reportedly turned down the titular role in Batman Begins, which later went to Christian Bale.

"I was, at that time of my career, where a lot of people were asking me to do those types of movies. I was having meetings with those directors and people were saying: 'Would you be interested?' I talked to them about what they were doing and I ultimately decided I wasn't, but that was a very privileged place for a young man to be in," the actor told Variety in January.

"I'm a little bit outside of the box and had the leverage to do that, and that’s the direction I chose."

Speaking to Playboy, however, Hartnett said he "definitely said no to some of the wrong people" at the height of his career. 

"That's frowned upon in this industry. People don't like being told no," he told Playboy.

"I learned my lesson when 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 [Christian Bale] for it."

Josh Hartnett and wife Tamsin Egerton in 2023. Image: Getty.

Nowadays, although roles still come up, Harnett had to work a little harder to secure them.

"I still get offered films and TV roles, luckily, but years ago, if I saw a role I wanted, there was a good chance I could grab it," he told Playboy.

"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."

In 2023, after years of smaller-scale projects, Harnett returned to the big screen — appearing in Christopher Nolan's blockbuster, Oppenheimer, 20 years after turning him down.

He also starred in an episode of the new season of the anthology series, Black Mirror, and Guy Ritchie's action comedy, Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre. This year, he made a surprise cameo in season three of The Bear. 

But most of the time though, his life revolves around his family.

"This is a rarity, honestly. Coming up to the city and doing an interview is a rarity," he said in conversation with a journalist at The Independent.

Harnett lives in Hampshire, England, with his wife, actress Tamsin Egerton, and their four children.

In typical Hartnett fashion, the news of his fourth child was only revealed during a red carpet interview at the SAG Awards in February 2024.

Robert Downey Jr. and Josh Hartnett at the 2024 SAG Awards. Image: Getty.

He was asked if he'd seen anything about the "Hartnett Renaissance" trending online, with moviegoers rooting for his big return to blockbusters like Oppenheimer.

"I have not," he told Gold Derby. "I have four kids, I live in the countryside. I'm busy either working or taking care of them, but thank you. That's really kind."

He and Egerton married in 2021. They welcomed their first child in 2015, a daughter, and their second two years later. 

In 2021, Hartnett confirmed in an interview that the couple had welcomed their third child at the end of 2019.

This article was published on December 3, 2021, and has been updated with new information since.

Feature Image: iMDB.

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