Josh Hartnett Biography

Josh Hartnett

The brown-eyed heartthrob made his acting debut in the role of Huck Finn in high school in St. Paul, Minnesota, where he was raised. A short stint at the SUNY acting program in New York ended when he was kicked out for protesting the school's policies. He moved to California, where he auditioned five times for a role on Dawson's Creek but had to settle for a part in the short-lived series Cracker (1997). A couple of horror movies, Halloween III and The Faculty, launched Hartnett's movie career. He proved his acting chops in Sofia Coppola's The Virgin Suicides (1999). That year Teen People named him one of the "21 hottest stars under 21." He followed with a part in Here on Earth (2000). Hartnett's next two movies were stalled (O because of its violent content after a rash of school shootings, Town & Country because it was a mess), but the hype for Pearl Harbor (2001) landed Hartnett on every magazine cover and talk show worth mentioning. His other films include Black Hawk Down (2001), another war movie, and 40 Days and 40 Nights.