Josh Hartnett put his peace of mind before his career years ago when he quietly left Hollywood in search of a quieter lifestyle.
The “Trap” star turned down two major roles in superhero films during the height of his stardom. Shortly after landing a supporting role in Sofia Coppola's 1999 cult classic “The Virgin Suicides,” Hartnett broke into the film world in a major way, starring in nine films in 2001 alone, including “Pearl Harbor” and “Black Hawk Down.”
When it came to pinpointing a specific reason why Hartnett stepped away from the spotlight, he told The Guardian there was no linear distinction between “happy Josh and unhappy Josh.”
“The attention people were giving me at the time was almost unhealthy,” Hartnett said.
Matt Damon's advice to Josh Hartnett during the filming of 'Oppenheimer' was 'very useful'
Josh Hartnett has left Hollywood amid fears from overzealous fans. (Fake Images)
Asked to clarify who the attention was owed to, he added: “Well, look, I don't want to make a big deal out of it. There were incidents. People showed up at my house. People stalked me.”
“There were incidents. People showed up at my house. People stalked me.”
Hartnett was 27 when “a guy showed up at one of my premieres with a gun, saying he was my father. He ended up in prison.”
He added: “A lot of things happened. It was a strange time and I wasn't going to be of any use.”
Josh Hartnett rose to fame at a young age and starred in “Black Hawk Down” in 2001, the same year he appeared in eight other films. (Fake Images)
The “Oppenheimer” star now spends her time between the UK and the US, although she lives in the UK on a marriage visa that only allows her to leave the country for a maximum of 180 days a year.
“A lot of things happened. It was a strange time and I wasn't going to be of any use to anyone.”
LIKE WHAT YOU'RE READING? CLICK HERE FOR MORE ENTERTAINMENT NEWS
Hartnett began dating British actress Tamsin Egerton in 2012 after meeting on set, and the couple secretly tied the knot in 2021.
“This is all new to me,” she said of her mostly anonymous life in Hampshire. “I would never have expected it. And time goes by fast. With four kids, you have so much to do. In some ways, there's less going on, but there's more important things going on.”
Hartnett and his wife Tamsin Egerton have four children. (Fake Images)
CLICK HERE TO SUBSCRIBE TO THE ENTERTAINMENT NEWSLETTER
She added: “My oldest daughter is eight and a half now. I feel like that's happened to me in the last two years. So I'm trying to take advantage of everything I can.”
Hartnett never abandoned his love of acting, but he did shy away from the spotlight that blinded so many. He left Los Angeles, returned to his home state of Minnesota and pursued more challenging, but smaller, projects.
Hartnett has three films in the works, including “The Long Home,” directed by James Franco. (Fake Images)
“I didn't want my life to be consumed by my work,” he said. “At that time there was this idea that you had to give up everything. And we saw what happened to some people at that time: they were destroyed by my work. I didn't want that for myself.”
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
Hartnett has several projects in the works, including “The Long Home,” directed by James Franco, the action thriller “Fight or Flight” and “The Last Draw of Jack Hearts.”
