Josh Hartnett is opening up about his decision to leave Hollywood behind after rising to fame with his early-2000s roles in Pearl Harbor and Black Hawk Down. The Trap actor, now 46, opened up about trading his life as a megastar for more low-key roles and a home in the Hampshire countryside of England in a new interview with The Guardian.
While Hartnett emphasized there was no simple line between "happy Josh and unhappy Josh" that made his decision for him, he noted that "people's attention to me at the time was borderline unhealthy." The actor would go on to recall a couple of disturbing incidents involving people who "showed up at [his] house" and "were stalking" him.
Josh Hartnett attends the UK Special Screening of "Trap" at the Cineworld O2 Greenwich on July 29, 2024 in London, England.
- Alan Chapman/Dave Benett/WireImage/Getty Images)At one point when he was 27 years old, Hartnett recalled, "A guy showed up at one of my premieres with a gun, claiming to be my father. He ended up in prison." He continued, "There were lots of things. It was a weird time. And I wasn't going to be grist for the mill."
In 2014, Hartnett offered a similar answer to Details magazine as to why he traded his rapidly rising Hollywood star for an indie film career. "I was on the cover of every magazine," Hartnett, 35 at the time, told the magazine, as per Us Weekly. "I couldn't really go anywhere. I didn't feel comfortable in my own skin. I was alone. I didn't trust anyone." The Oppenheimer actor commented, "I'm still finding my way through all that."
Josh Hartnett and Tamsin Egerton attend the UK special screening of "Trap" at Cineworld O2 Greenwich on July 29, 2024 in London, England
- Photo by Karwai Tang/WireImage/Getty Images)Now, Hartnett lives with his wife British actress Tamsin Egerton, 35, and their four kids in the English countryside. He explained of the big move in a new interview with PEOPLE, "Hollywood is more than a place; it's like a state of mind. If you're around people who are constantly talking about the movie business, your life is going to be pretty much one note. And I've never wanted that."
"I've always wanted to be around ... people generally doing lots of other things that would bring my mind off of my work and force me to grow in different directions," continued Hartnett. "To me, that's the spice of life." The star explained of his family's life in Hampshire, "We've got all this sort of stuff going on that is outside of, I guess, what the normal expectation is of an actor in Hollywood," adding, "I just never really vibed with L.A. because I'm not a big fan of sitting in the car all day."