A few years ago, Josh Hartnett discreetly left Hollywood to pursue a quieter lifestyle and a quieter career.
The “Trap” star turned down two major superhero movie roles at the height of his stardom. Shortly after landing a small role in the 1999 Sofia Coppola classic The Virgin Suicides, Harnett made a big move into movies, starring in nine films in 2001 alone, including The Pearl “Port” and “Black Hawk Down.”
When asked about the specific reasons for Hartnett’s exit from the spotlight, he told The Guardian that there is no linear difference between “happy Josh and unhappy Josh.”
“The attention paid to me was borderline unhealthy,” Harnett said.
Matt Damon’s advice to Josh Hartnett on ‘Oppenheimer’ was ‘very helpful’
Josh Hartnett left Hollywood amid concerns about overzealous fans. (Getty Images)
When asked to clarify who was concerned, he added, “Well, look, I don’t want to take this too seriously. There were incidents. People showed up at my house. I was followed.”
“There were incidents. People showed up at my house. People stalked me.”
When Harnett was 27, “a man showed up at one of my premieres with a gun and claimed to be my father. He ended up in jail.”
He added, “There were a lot of things. It was a weird moment. And I wasn’t going to be factory cereal.”
Josh Hartnett rose to fame at a young age, starring in Black Hawk Down in 2001, the same year he went on to appear in eight more films. (Getty Images)
The “Oppenheimer” star now splits his time between the UK and the US, although he lives in the UK on a marriage visa and can only leave the country for a maximum of 180 days per year.
“There were a lot of things. It was a weird time. And I wasn’t going to be grist for the mill.”
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Harnett began dating British actress Tamsin Egerton in 2012 after meeting on set, and the two secretly married in 2021.
“This is all new to me,” he said of his anonymous life in Hampshire. “I never expected this. Time flies. With four kids, you have a lot to do. In a way, less is happening. But more important things are happening.”
Hartnett and his wife, Tamsin Egerton, have four children. (Getty Images)
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He added, “My oldest daughter is eight-and-a-half now — this feels like what’s been happening to me in the last two years. So I’m soaking it up as much as I can.”
Harnett never gave up her love for acting, but instead retired from the spotlight that blinded many. He left Los Angeles and moved back to his native Minnesota to pursue more challenging, albeit smaller, projects.
Harnett is filming three movies, including “The Long Home,” directed by James Franco. (Getty Images)
“I just don’t want my life to be consumed by work,” he said. “There was an idea of giving up on everything. You saw what happened to some people at the time. They were erased by it. I didn’t want that myself.”
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Hartnett has several projects in the works, including the James Franco-directed “The Long Home,” the action thriller “Fight or Flight” and “Jack of Hearts.”
