Josh Hartnett was born and raised in Minnesota, where he lived mainly with his father, Daniel, who was a building manager. His stepmother Molly also lived with them, along with three younger half-sisters and half-brothers, Jack, Joe and Jessica.

Hartnett was raised as a Roman Catholic. He attended the Nativity of Our Lord Catholic school. In eighth grade, he appeared as 'Adam Apple' in a production of Krazy Kamp. When he graduated from that grade school, he attended Cretin-Derham Hall High school and then South High School (in Minneapolis). Josh was a keen footballer at school but was forced to quit when he broke his left knee.

After graduating from high school, Josh Hartnett attended the Conservatory of Theatre Arts and Film, at SUNY Purchase. Whilst studying there, Hartnett worked at a video store to pay his way through his studies.

At the age of 12, Josh Hartnett became a vegetarian. Although he had remained vegetarian since then, he began eating meat again whilst he was filming for The Black Dahlia.

Josh Hartnett: Acting Career

Josh Hartnett made his first screen appearance on the TV show Cracker in 1997. In his early career, he also made a number of stage appearances as well as getting work on national TV adverts.

Hartnett's debut film role was appearing as Jamie Lee Curtis' son in Halloween H20: 20 Years Later. The film was released in 1998 and soon became a box office hit.

Following this debut movie appearance, Josh Hartnett has maintained a steady stream of work. Amongst his most famous films are The Faculty, Black Hawk Down, Pearl Harbour (which also starred Ben Affleck and Jon Voight) and Lucky Number Slevin, which starred Brad Pitt. Hartnett stars alongside Scarlett Johansson in The Black Dahlia. In the film, he plays a detective investigating the murder of the actress Elizabeth Short. The Black Dahlia is based on a true story.

In 2007, Hartnett appeared opposite Samuel L. Jackson in Resurrecting the Champ. That same year, he also starred in the graphic novel-horror flick 30 Days of Night. In the film, he plays the sheriff of a small North American town, trying to defend itself against an unidentified intruder.

In 2008, Hartnett was selected to play Charlie Babbit in a stage adaptation of the Barry Morrow film Rain Man. The play was staged at the Apollo Theatre in London. Adam Godley also stars in the play.

In 1999, Josh Hartnett was named as on of Teen People magazine's '21 Hottest Stars Under 21'. People magazine also selected him in their '50 Most Beautiful People' list in 2002.

In 2008, Hartnett was the star of Emporio Armani's advertising campaign for their fragrance 'Diamonds for Men,' making him the first male to be the face of Giorgio Armani Beauty.

Biography by Contactmusic.com

6 Below Review

Good

Based on an astonishing true survival story, this film is subtitled "Miracle on the Mountain", so it can't help but be an inspirational movie that tugs on the heartstrings. But it's a shame that's all filmmaker Scott Waugh (Need for Speed) aims for here. And despite the stunning settings, his limited approach leaves this feeling like little more than a TV movie of the week. Still, it's a story worth telling.

The film is based on the memoir by Eric LeMarque (played by Josh Hartnett), who when the story starts is trying to get his life back on track while he's kicking a drug habit. Waiting for his day in court, he decides to blow off some steam on the slopes, so heads up to do some off-piste snowboarding. Then a sudden whiteout leaves him lost in an unfamiliar snow-buried wilderness, chased by wolves. Over the next eight days, he struggles to find a way out. Meanwhile, his mother (Mira Sorvino) gets in touch with a ski patrol officer (Sarah Dumont) to organise a search.

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Josh Hartnett Explains Why He Rejected Christopher Nolan's 'Batman' Lead Role

By Daniel Falconer in Movies / TV / Theatre on 21 June 2017

Josh Hartnett

The actor does regret not forming a "creative partnership" with Christopher Nolan.

The Christopher Nolan trilogy of Batman films has for some time now been regarded as the best big screen outing the superhero has ever seen. Across three films, he battled a varied roster of DC Comics' finest villains including Scarecrow, the Joker and Bane, whilst dealing with his own demons and the injustice that the world flung upon him, simply for wanting to save the world from destruction.

Josh Hartnett rejected one of the biggest roles in Hollywood

Christian Bale was the man who led the films as an often battered Bruce Wayne, but one that would stop at nothing to bring justice around for the citizens of Gotham City. If Nolan's first choice for the trilogy had said yes to the offer of playing Batman however, we could have had some very different films.

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Josh Hartnett seen arriving at the 30th Annual American Cinematheque Awards Gala held at The Beverly Hilton Hotel, Beverly Hills, California, United States - Friday 14th October 2016

Josh Hartnett at the 30th annual American Cinematheque Awards Gala held at The Beverly Hilton Hotel, Los Angeles, California, United States - Friday 14th October 2016

'Penny Dreadful' Season Three: A New Famous Literary Character Is On The Way

By Stephanie Chase in Movies / TV / Theatre on 06 July 2015

Josh Hartnett Eva Green Timothy Dalton

Following Sunday’s exciting season two finale, fans have been given a taste of what to expect from ‘Penny Dreadful’ next time around.

‘Penny Dreadful’ might have just finished its second season but that doesn't mean fans aren’t already early awaiting the series’ return. While Sunday night’s finale episode might have served up a few shocking moments and one surprise exit, season three already looks to be just as exciting, with the promise of a new character joining the fray.

The cast of Showtime's ‘Penny Dreadful’.

Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, showrunner John Logan revealed that a famous new character would be joining the series next season, though he was extra careful not to give too much away. “I can tell you this—and this is such a tease,” Logan said.

Continue reading: 'Penny Dreadful' Season Three: A New Famous Literary Character Is On The Way

Josh Hartnett & Tamsin Egerton Are Expecting Their First Child Together

By Elinor Cosgrave in Lifestyle / Showbiz on 04 July 2015

Josh Hartnett

Josh Hartnett is going to be a dad! The 36-year-old actor and his British girlfriend Tamsin Egerton are expecting their first child together.

Josh Harnett and Tamsin Egerton are going to be parents! A representative for Harnett confirmed the news to multiple media outlets on Thursday (2nd July). The couple have been dating since 2012 and this is their first child together.

Josh Hartnett is going to be a dad!

Continue reading: Josh Hartnett & Tamsin Egerton Are Expecting Their First Child Together

Josh Hartnett - Penny Dreadful Season 2 World Theatrical Premiere at TIFF Bell Lightbox. - Toronto, Canada - Wednesday 22nd April 2015

Josh Hartnett Talks Turning Down Batman And Saying No To The Wrong People

By Stephanie Chase in Movies / TV / Theatre on 18 April 2015

Josh Hartnett Christopher Nolan

The ‘Penny Dreadful’ star has spoken to Playboy about the roles he turned down in Hollywood.

Back in the late 90s and early 2000s Josh Hartnett was the man of the moment, after starring in blockbusters Pearl Harbour and Black Hawk Down. But by the mid-2000s the teen heartthrob seemed to disappear from the Hollywood mainstream, after turning down a number of high profile gigs.

Josh Hartnett turned down the chance to play Batman

Now Hartnett is back in the spotlight, starring in Showtime series ‘Penny Dreadful’, which begins its second season next month. Speaking to Playboy, the now 36 year old opened up about the early years of his career and if he had any regrets about the roles he turned down.

Continue reading: Josh Hartnett Talks Turning Down Batman And Saying No To The Wrong People

Josh Hartnett - Hollywood actor Josh Hartnett on the set of Showtime TV series 'Penny Dreadful' in period dress at Dublin Castle, Dublin, Ireland - 02.02.15. - Dublin, Ireland - Monday 2nd February 2015

Showtime's "Penny Dreadful" Isn't That Dreadful At All

By Victoria Pavlova in Movies / TV / Theatre on 12 May 2014

Eva Green Josh Hartnett Billie Piper Timothy Dalton

Josh Hartnett returns in Showtime's promising new horror series.

Whenever a show or movie tries to make a show out of a mix of gothic literary characters, it usually ends up, rather aptly, a Frankenstein monster of a story – hammy at best, clumsy and unwatchable at worst. But Showtime has been on the ball with it’s sex-and-violence dramas of late, and they’re setting up a pretty compelling story with their new show, Penny Dreadful.

Eva Green is creepily brilliant as a paranormal expert in the first episode.

So far several familiar faces have made direct or indirect appearances – Victor Frankenstein, Dorian Gray, Mina Harker (nee Murray, of Dracula fame), Jack the Ripper and so on. Then there are the new faces, like Eva Greene’s endlessly enjoyable (and possibly sociopathic) Vanessa Ives, who appears to be the partner of Timothy Dalton’s Sir Malcolm Murray. And she’s about as awesomely creepy as it gets.

Continue reading: Showtime's "Penny Dreadful" Isn't That Dreadful At All

Josh Hartnett's 'Penny Dreadful': Everything You Need To Know Before The 'Showtime' Premiere

By Stephanie Chase in Movies / TV / Theatre on 10 May 2014

Josh Hartnett Eva Green

Josh Hartnett is bringing 'Penny Dreadful' to Showtime, with the help of a few famous names from literature.

Josh Hartnett returns to television this Sunday in Showtime's ‘Penny Dreadful’, a dark, thrilling horror series which will have you on the edge of your seat. Set in Victorian London ‘Penny Dreadful’ will introduce you to many intriguing characters, plus a few you might have heard of before. As its premiere approaches, here’s everything you need to know about the anything but dreadful new series.

Josh Hartnett stars in 'Penny Dreadful'

The Team

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The Virgin Suicides Review

By Athan Bezaitis

Very Good

The Virgin Suicides is a dark comedy that embodies some twisted views on suburban family life and the true lack innocence of adolescence. First-time writer and director Sofia Coppola, daughter of Godfather creator Francis Ford Coppola, proves to us that she's not really an actress (see The Godfather Part III), but that she does have the family knack for provocative movie directing. The movie is based upon Jeffrey Eugenides' novel, The Virgin Suicides, a detective story about five sisters who mysteriously commit suicide and the investigation by four neighborhood boys who had fallen in love with them. Coppola, however, transforms the movie into her own allegory of five adolescent girls who suffer from ruthlessly suppressed lives, their desperate plea for self-expression, and the tragedy that besets their wretched existence.

Set in the mid-seventies, the plot follows the Lisbon family, with James Woods, a physics teacher at the local high school, as the scatter brained father, and Kathleen Turner as the uncommonly strict mother. Their five daughters are beautiful, naturally blonde, and the desire of every boy in the neighborhood. When the youngest, Cecilia, mysteriously attempts suicide, psychiatrist Danny DeVito recommends that she be allowed to interact more socially, especially with boys. So the Lisbon girls are introduced to the boys of the neighborhood, who have already been watching the girls from afar through half-opened window shades, binoculars, and telescopes. At a party in Cecilia's honor, the boys witness a tragedy that shocks them out of their wits. As a result, the Lisbons fall into a deep suppression shutting out the rest of the world by retreating into their own inner sanctum. It appears they will never recover until Trip Fontaine (Josh Hartnett), the high school heartthrob, pursues the unattainable Lux (Kirsten Dunst). He attempts to ask her to the prom, but the only way her mother will allow him to take Lux is if all the girls go together. For the first time, the girls will venture out of the home to interact socially in an environment other than school.

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Black Hawk Down Review

By Jeremiah Kipp

Terrible

"It's about the facelessness of war!" exclaimed a colleague. "The compositions are stunning, with action going on in the foreground and background. It's a dynamic and apocalyptic visual experience!" This, to me, is madness. Black Hawk Down has been mistaken, in its bloated self-importance, for being cinematically and politically relevant. Take away its timely guise of patriotism, and it's a real horror show, more about murder than military prowess. Without the morally repellant "kill 'em all" subtext (young white boys mowing down the savages), you're left with something merely incoherent.

Two U.S. Black Hawk helicopters go down in the mazelike streets of Mogadishu during a routine search-and-capture mission, leaving 100 G.I.'s stumbling around enemy territory with limited resources until the rescue Rangers show up. It's been oft-compared to having almost two full hours of Steven Spielberg's masterful 30-minute Omaha Beach sequence in Saving Private Ryan, which sounds good on paper only because Ryan suffered by following up its amazing visual prologue with a glut of character-driven monologues to invest personality within each soldier before he get killed. But Spielberg understood the basic precepts of documentary filmmaking: no matter how chaotic things got, we always understood where the soldiers were, and where they were going. Black Hawk Down, by removing exposition and cohesion, couldn't care less.

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The Black Dahlia Review

By Chris Barsanti

Weak

Sure, the man's had a bad run of things. When Brian de Palma directed Snake Eyes, a corker of a plot that went nowhere, it seemed like a fluke. When he did Femme Fatale, that ludicrous sapphic French diamond heist flick, it could be written off as just an idiosyncratic minor joke by a former Hollywood heavyweight in self-imposed Euro-exile -- something to keep him occupied until he went back to the big leagues. Well, that moment of return finally arrived in the form of the long-gestating adaptation of James Ellroy's 1987 novel The Black Dahlia, a mystery about the infamous 1947 Elizabeth Short murder which seemed purpose-built for de Palma's needs. Ellroy's fever dream of a novel has everything that the famously self-referential director could utilize: doppelgangers (male and female), seedy urban underbelly, and psychosexual perversities galore. Given the limp, campy joke of a film that resulted, however, it seems time to stop making excuses for the man -- Brian de Palma has become one very bad director.

The generally limp script by Josh Friedman starts off smartly, setting us up for the bruising friendship between the stars, a couple of L.A. cops who also happen to be boxers and get paired up for a publicity-machine fight that touts them as "Mr. Fire and Mr. Ice." Ice is "Bucky" Bleichart (Josh Hartnett), a cool and low-key guy charitably described as a loser who gets his shot at a good chunk of change as well as reassignment to the LAPD's hotshot Warrants department for agreeing to the fight. Fire is Lee Blanchard (Aaron Eckhart), one of those bigger-than-life cops who cuts corners with aplomb and seems happy enough to bring Bucky on as his partner after knocking his teeth out (literally) in the ring. Further binding the two men together, besides work and friendship, is Kay Lake (Scarlett Johansson), the sultry blonde dame on Lee's arm who takes a shine to Bleichart that doesn't seem to be entirely platonic.

Continue reading: The Black Dahlia Review