Trap Proves Josh Hartnett Is Having a Major Career Resurgence

Summary

• Josh Hartnett’s career resurgence, like Matthew McConaughey and Keanu Reeves before him, is a captivating tale of comebacks in Hollywood.
• Rejecting mainstream success, Hartnett focused on quality projects with great directors, leading to a career revitalization.
• From early success to rejecting big blockbusters, Hartnett’s gradual comeback showcases his talent and authenticity in Hollywood.

Hollywood will always welcome a salacious and scandalous story, but the industry sometimes shows a softer side and embraces the tale of the big comeback. Like Matthew McConaughey and Keanu Reeves before him, Josh Hartnett has been at the center of his own comeback story. McConaughey had his “McConasissance” after doing a series of romantic comedies that made the industry question his considerable talents. The actor did a series of films, such as The Lincoln Lawyer, Mud, and Magic Mike, that reminded everyone what he was capable of before bringing it home with his Oscar-winning turn in 2013’s Dallas Buyers Club.

Reeves’ “Keanusance” took place after the actor had a string of films that underperformed. This all came to an end when he stepped into the action shoes of John Wick, which has since gone on to become a highly lucrative franchise that has further solidified his place in pop culture. Hartnett’s “Joshaissance” happened gradually, and it really couldn’t have happened to a better person. Not only is the actor very talented, but he also has a likability that shows that he rejects most Hollywood norms.

He was on the trajectory of becoming a movie star that could’ve been in a series of blockbuster films (and, as you’ll learn, he almost was), but he turned his back on all of that, choosing to come back into the fold when he was older and wiser. On top of this, a true-to-life frightening moment also contributed to Hartnett taking a break from the spotlight, but he had found a place in Hollywood that he is comfortable with, and it has led to one hell of a career resurgence that has been fascinating to watch.

Josh Hartnett Emerged as a Potential Teen Idol

Hartnett’s career began soon after he arrived in Los Angeles at the age of 19 when he was cast in the ABC crime drama Cracker in 1997. The series was very short-lived, running for only 16 episodes before being canceled in January 1998, but Hartnett would not be without work for long as he landed two pivotal roles around the same time. His first feature film would be Halloween: H20, where he played the role of John Tate, the son of Jamie Lee Curtis’ Laurie Strode.

Produced by Dimension Films, appearing in the movie put him in the cross-hairs of another Dimension release called The Faculty, directed by Robert Rodriguez. The actor practically did the movies back-to-back, but Halloween: H20 would prove to be his film debut and a successful one, ultimately becoming one of the highest-grossing entries of the franchise when it earned $75 million globally on a $17 million budget.

That hit came in the summer of 1998, and The Faculty arrived on Christmas day of the same year. Even though the project didn’t hit the lucrative heights of the Scream franchise, it was still a modest hit, grossing $63.2 million worldwide on a $15 million budget. It also helped quickly make Hartnett one to watch, taking him from obscurity to total notoriety practically overnight.

While it would’ve been easy for Hartnett to play it safe and lose himself in films aimed at the teenage demographic, he proved early on to want to work with directors with a voice. It’s something that he seems to still do today, choosing more quality over quantity while not actively seeking box office success. As Trip Fontaine in Sofia Coppola’s The Virgin Suicides, Hartnett hits all the right notes in a completely nuanced role.

In the film, a group of friends finds themselves obsessed with five sisters who live a sheltered and strict life due to their religious parents. The movie dives into how men, particularly young men, view girls who are holding onto innocence while also turning into women. Hartnett makes Fontaine’s interest in these girls feel genuine while also displaying a capacity to be a leading man who is charismatic, engaging, and mysterious.

Hartnett Joins Big Budget Blockbusters

In 2001, Hartnett would find himself in a position that most Hollywood leading men would want to be in, but it would also prove to be a pivotal year that made him realize the actor he didn’t want to be. Hartnett was in three films that year, each serving a different purpose. Arriving first was Michael Bay’s Pearl Harbor, a film that seemed to have the intention of being like James Cameron’s Titanic, centering on a fictional romance around a real-life historical event.

The movie was Hartnett’s biggest production to date, carrying a budget of $140 million and having the actor star alongside other big talents such as Ben Affleck, Kate Beckinsale, Alec Baldwin, and Cuba Gooding Jr. The film was positioned as a big summer movie, and while it was financially successful, grossing $449.2 million worldwide, it received largely negative reviews. Hartnett found himself the face of a box office tentpole that made money but also one that became the butt of many jokes, even earning six Razzie Award nominations. For an actor who seems to care more about the work, it wasn’t a position that Hartnett ever felt comfortable with, and it becomes more obvious following the release of Pearl Harbor.

Also in 2001, Hartnett starred in the movie O, a modern re-telling of William Shakespeare’s Othello. The film was initially supposed to be released in 1999, but it was delayed following the Columbine High School Massacre due to eerily similar subject matter. Hartnett played Hugo in the film, a take on Iago and Othello’s dangerously jealous friend.

It’s arguably Hartnett’s best performance during this time period, something that was noticed by most critics, including the late Roger Ebert. When writing about the actor’s performance, Ebert said, “Josh Hartnett showed here, years before Pearl Harbor, that he is capable of subtleties and complexities that epic did not dream of.” O wasn’t a huge box office success, but it served the purpose of showing Hartnett’s truly diverse talents.

Released in limited release in December 2001 was Black Hawk Down, which saw Hartnett working with another prestigious director, Ridley Scott. The actor found himself once again surrounded by talented actors, including Ewan McGregor, Eric Bana, Tom Sizemore, and, in his first movie role, Tom Hardy. The war film scored with critics, registering a 77% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes and audiences, clearing $172.9 million worldwide on a $92 million budget. In the pantheon of great war films, Black Hawk Down is mentioned frequently, and it became another worthwhile production for Hartnett to attach his name to.

Josh Hartnett Rejected Mainstream Notoriety and Success

Despite a solid, steady stream of films during this period, Hartnett was further positioned as a teen idol and potential box office movie star, something Hartnett became increasingly uncomfortable with. In fact, the actor seemed so uncomfortable with this public image that he seemed to do things to actively reject it.

During the early 2000s, it’s no secret that Harnett was offered the role of Clark Kent/Superman on many occasions, and it’s also not a secret that he turned it down every single time. At the time, he said the decision came down to him not wanting to commit to a role that could stretch on for years and years, which was a similar reason that was given as to why he turned down portraying Bruce Wayne/Batman in Christopher Nolan’s Batman Begins. Rejecting these roles proves that Hartnett wasn’t fully comfortable with mainstream success, but a more serious reason was recently revealed as to why Hartnett turned down these roles and gradually took a step back from Hollywood.

In a recent interview, Hartnett acknowledged that toxic fandom and stalking made him shy away from the mainstream attention that Hollywood had to offer. At the height of his popularity, the situation became potentially dangerous, which gave the actor great pause about his position in the industry.

“People’s attention to me at the time was borderline unhealthy. There were incidents. People showed up at my house. People that were stalking me. A guy showed up at one of my premieres with a gun, claiming to be my father. He ended up in prison. There were lots of things. It was a weird time. And I wasn’t going to be grist for the mill.”

It’s easy to see how this aligns with Hartnett’s output during this time. While the actor appeared in some fun romantic comedies (40 Days and 40 Nights), some exciting dramas (Wicker Park), films destined to be cult classics (Sin City and Lucky Number Slevin), and even a vampire horror film that still holds up (30 Days of Night), his projects became decidedly less mainstream. Through the mid-2000s, the actor seemed to slink away from the spotlight, choosing to do smaller projects that weren’t in line with the megastar that the industry wanted him to be. Knowing now that this was a much more serious personal choice makes it all make a little bit more sense because it seemed as if, when he had the most momentum, he began to turn away from his success and disappear from the limelight.

It seemed as Hartnett got older, he began to care less about the industry, wanting to make him “the next big thing,” and just wanted to focus on making good projects that mattered to him. Away from the pressure of young movie stardom, the actor began to gradually craft a new stage of his career that allowed him to reemerge and be seen in a much different light. Some of this started with 2014’s Penny Dreadful, a horror series that ran on Showtime for three seasons. The show developed a pretty dedicated fanbase, and when Hartnett popped up as Ethan Chandler, fans were happy to see an old friend again.

Josh Hartnett Makes a Gradual Comeback With Oppenheimer and Trap

In 2021, Hartnett began a working relationship with director Guy Ritchie that began with Wrath of Man and continued with a supporting role in Ritchie’s 2023 movie, Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre. These projects seemed to be in line with what Hartnett wanted to do now with his career, simply working with great directors of his choosing without the pressures of being a box office star. You can almost see how at ease Hartnett seems to be back in a position to be noticed because he’s older and wiser and doesn’t feel the pressure of having to be the biggest name in the room. That led to the work that he put in for Season 6 of Black Mirror or his most recent appearance as Frank in Season 3 of The Bear.

Perhaps the best part of Hartnett’s second act is that it brought him back into the orbit of Christopher Nolan. After turning down the chance to work with the director in Batman Begins, he got the opportunity to rectify that by appearing in 2023’s Oppenheimer as Ernest Lawrence. The movie would prove to be a critical and box office success, ultimately winning the Academy Award for Best Picture. It’s a supporting role but an important one, allowing him to engage in some of the film’s best scenes with star Cillian Murphy. Speaking about getting to work with Nolan after the missed opportunity seems to sum up where he’s at now as an actor.

“I recognize the missed opportunity to work with a guy like Chris. And I’ve figured out that as much as you’re worried about curating your career to things you’re interested in, I don’t believe that’s the most important thing anymore. It’s about finding people who you really trust. 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 myself.”

Now Hartnett finds himself headlining the new thriller, Trap, directed by M. Night Shyamalan. The actor gets to flex his muscles as Cooper, a father of a teenage daughter, taking her to the concert of one of her favorite artists. However, Cooper isn’t a typical father, and this is not a typical concert. As it turns out, the concert is quite literally one big “trap” set up by the police to capture a serial killer, and Cooper just happens to be the serial killer they’re looking for. Early reviews have praised Hartnett’s performance, and as the only actor of much recognition in the film, the movie is riding partially on his name to be successful. All signs point to a potential hit, and it’s great to see Hartnett lead a project like this at this point in his career. Free of pressure. Free of the need to be a big star. Just completely in the game to put out great content and give great performances. Trap is now playing in theaters.