Biography And Filmography:

A leading role in the World War II drama “Pearl Harbor”, working with Ben Affleck and Cuba Gooding Jr. put Josh Hartnett on the Hollywood celebrity map, and gained him needed attention to distinguish him from the other young actors of the time.

Josh then got his breakout role in the horror movie “Halloween H20: 20 Years Later” (1998), starring Jamie Lee Curtis, and shot the young actor into teen heartthrob status, and he became one of the few child actors who was able to break from the typecasting that could have resulted from “The Virgin Suicides” (1999) and the numerous appearances on People magazine’s “Hottest Young Teen” lists that graced their covers. He went on to build a solid resume of work with his muscular, discreet roles in films like “Lucky Number Slevin” (2006) with Bruce Willis, and “The Black Dahlia” (2006) with Scarlett Johansson, about two policemen who see their personal and professional lives fall apart in the wake of the "Black Dahlia" murder investigation.

He was born on July 21, 1978, in St. Paul, Minnesota. He became interested in acting after he became involved with regional theater productions with the Steppingstone Theater and the Youth Performance Company in Minneapolis. He attended the drama school at the State University of New York in Purchase in 1996 but left after only one year. Even thought Hartnett had not completed his University drama training, acting offers started to flood in. Within months, he was cast as the troubled young son in fourteen episodes of the television series "Cracker" (1997-99). His first big screen introduction was in "Halloween H20: 20 Years Later” (1998), portraying the young son of Jamie Lee Curtis' besieged Laurie Strode. 

The young actor was on a roll, next auditioning and winning a part in the cast of Kevin Williamson’s sci-fi teen thriller "The Faculty" (1998), where students begin to suspect that their teachers are aliens after bizarre occurrences start to take place. He played the malicious kid of a group of high school students fending off the aliens. The smash hit movie and the marketing tie-in campaign with Tommy Hilfiger, which included magazine print ads featuring the actor, shot the actor deeper into the young teen celebrity heartthrob culture. 

He was then hired and cast as Trip Fontaine in Sofia Coppola's mystery drama "The Virgin Suicides" (1999), before appearing in several independent short films before landing the lead in the 2001 blockbuster smash hit “Pearl Harbor”, where he was cast as a US Air Force pilot caught in a love triangle. The exposure of the film, and experience working with A-list actors Ben Affleck, Kate Beckinsale, Cuba Gooding Jr., Jon Voight, Alec Baldwin and Jennifer Garner, showed producers that he had the acting chops to work in high-profile movies, while holding his own while upstaged by more famous celebrities.

Hartnett was next cast in the starring role of Eversmann in the war thriller “Black Hawk Down” (2001), Ridley Scott’s traumatic look at 122 elite soldiers who enter Somalia to capture two top lieutenants of a renegade warlord and find themselves in a desperate battle with a large force of heavily-armed Somalis. "Black Hawk Down" was loved by audiences and he again showed he could hold his own next to an A-list cast including Ewan McGregor, Eric Bana, Tom Sizemore and Sam Shepard.  

He next took the starring role of Matt Sulivan in the romantic comedy “40 Days and 40 Nights” (2002), about a young man who after a brutal breakup, vows to stay celibate during the 40 days of Lent, but finds the girl of his dreams and is unable to do anything about it.

He then teamed with action stars Harrison Ford and Isaiah Washington in the crime thriller "Hollywood Homicide” (2003), where two LAPD detectives investigate the murder of an up-and-coming rap music group. Next was the starring role in the mystery drama "Wicker Park" (2004), about a young Chicago advertising executive who believes a woman he sees in a restaurant is his long-lost love, and his determination leads to obsession, as he puts his life on hold to trail her. The actor next played an assassin in the crime thriller "Sin City" (2005), starring Jessica Alba and Alexis Bledel, a film that explores the dark and miserable town of Basin City, and tells the story of three different people, all caught up in the violent corruption of the city.

He then landed another starring role that would further lift his status as a Hollywood leading actor, when he accepted the part of Slevin Kelevra in the crime thriller “Lucky Number Slevin” (2006), also starring Brice Willis and Lucy Liu, where a case of mistaken identity lands Slevin in the middle of a war being plotted by two of the city's most rival crime bosses. "Slevin" was loved by critics and audiences alike, and won a Best Film award at the Milan Film Festival. 

Shortly after the release of "Slevin" was the mystery thriller "The Black Dahlia" (2006), that starred Josh as Dwight 'Bucky' Bleichert opposite Scarlett Johansson - a movie that was inspired by the most notorious unsolved murder in California history, about two policemen who see their personal and professional lives fall apart in the wake of the "Black Dahlia" murder investigation. The film was nominated for an Oscar Award for Best Achievement in Cinematography, but failed to win over the critics. Another lead role followed next to Samuel L. Jackson in the sports themed movie “Resurrecting the Champ” (2007), where he played the role as a journalist who unwittingly discovers a dead former boxing champ. The movie was a flop both at the box-office and with audiences.

His next role as Sheriff Eben Oleson in the horror thriller "30 Days Of Night" (2007) would score a big hit with critics. He portrayed a sheriff dealing with a mystery when an Alaskan town is plunged into darkness for a month after it is attacked by a bloodthirsty gang of vampires. He then took a more dramatic role in the Wall Street based movie "August". The movie centers on two brothers who are fighting to keep their start-up company afloat on Wall Street during August 2001, a month before the 9/11 terrorist attacks. "August" was not seen by many, and almost forgotten by critics, with some commenting it was too soon after the tragedy to be using it as a movie plot.

But he was on a roll, and now considered a serious contender in Hollywood, and producers wanted him in their movies. He would not disappoint, with four projects during the 2008-2009 movie season. The first was a starring role in the thriller "I Come With The Rain" (2008), about an ex-Los Angeles cop turned private investigator who travels to Hong Kong in search of the missing son of a wealthy man. Next was the action movie "Bunraku" (2009), starring alongside Ron Perlman and Demi Moore, about a lone drifter who comes to town seeking revenge, but soon finds himself up against a bigger challenge than he originally planned. 

The actor then ventured from the thriller movies and tried his hand at comedy in "End Zone" (2009), a sports themed comedy about a college football running back who struggles to balance his newfound fame, a crush on a co-ed, and his relationship with the school's sexy publicist, and a teacher with evil plans for the star athlete. He wrapped his year working with Eva Mendes and Ben Kingsley in the action movie "Queen Of The South" (2009), about a women (Mendes) who flees Mexico after her drug-runner boyfriend is murdered. Settling in Spain, she looks to become the country's reigning drug smuggler and to avenge her lover's murder.

Watch Josh Hartnett In An Interview For The Movie "August"

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