What Is Josh Hartnett Doing Now and Why Did He Distance Himself From Hollywood?

When a young actor has a breakout role, you'll usually see them stick around for the long haul. Whether it's for their skills in the profession or even based on charisma alone, an actor who makes a good impression will typically be seen everywhere. But even high-profile celebrity actors can experience burnout, leading them to take significant breaks throughout their careers. Such is the case with Josh Hartnett.

During the early days of Josh's career, he was highly sought after as a young heartthrob with some serious acting chops. He first appeared in a Hollywood feature with 1998's Halloween H20: 20 Years Later playing opposite Jamie Lee Curtis and would go on to several other notable projects.

However, the actor seemingly stepped out of the limelight around the height of his fame. What is Josh Hartnett up to now? In case you were worried, he's still been acting almost the whole time. Read on for the deets!

Once upon a time, you couldn't even get away from Josh when it came to Hollywood movies. Following his award-nominated feature film debut in the 1998 Halloween sequel, he would go on to star in an almost absurd amount of movies. In 2001 alone, Josh appeared in six separate films and projects, including Black Hawk Down and Pearl Harbor.

Some of his other memorable roles from the early to mid-2000s include 40 Days and 40 Nights, Sin City, Lucky Number Slevin, and August.

These days, he is much choosier about the projects he's involved in, but he certainly hasn't completely fallen off the map. After all, he played a major role in Oppenheimer, one of the biggest films of 2023! He's also had roles in Black Mirror, Penny Dreadful, and The Fear Index. His latest project, Trap, released in August 2024, features him as a serial killer. Wild, right?

While Josh is still involved in the entertainment biz (albeit to a much lesser extent than in his youth), his main focus seems to be his off-screen life.

In a 2017 interview with The Huffington Post, Josh — who moved back home to Minnesota at the height of his fame — described his experience with stepping away from what he called "an unhealthy environment."

"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 on the fame itself, but the pursuit of wealth and the pursuit of surface values," he said.

He later added: "I still love the industry and I’m sort of active in it, but also keep it at arm’s length at times too because it can be overwhelming.”

He also took time to start a family with wife Tamsin Egerton, with whom he shares four children. He explained to Yahoo in May 2021: "I didn't really take any major hiatuses that were planned, I just had kids. ... I started doing smaller films, [since] the films didn't take me away from the kids very often."

During a rare red carpet appearance at the 2024 SAG Awards, when Josh was asked whether he was aware of social media's current obsession with his work, he replied: "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."

Josh Hartnett may not be as busy making movies as he once was, and that's mostly by design. Luckily for fans of his, he has not totally left the public eye, and undoubtedly will still be many people's celebrity crush for many years to come.