Josh Hartnett: "Please stop asking me these questions"

Please stop asking me if I'm a Swifty. Let's just stop asking me that. Dreamboat hunk. Right. Is that something that was a bit weird for you? Or is it just something that comes with the job? It was because I definitely couldn't get a date in high school, so. No way. I don't believe that. Oh, wait. Yeah, but many heroes. There are some that just don't live up to the hype in real life. I mean, the most action that guy got was between the sheets. Yeah, I'm feeling great. This is, again, the format, it's genius. Well done. So this is Please Stop Asking Me The Show, where we find out the questions our guests get asked all the time and we put them to rest once and for all. My guest today is somebody we loved in films like Black Hawk Down, Sin City, 30 Days of Night, Oppenheimer, and now starring in a brand new psychological thriller called Verity, Josh Hartnett, welcome. Good to see you, Dev, thank you. You look ever so relaxed. I feel relaxed, I'm happy to be here. Very zen, I like it. Oh good, yeah. I like the vibe you're creating already. Also, you know, it's early in the morning. I have time to get amped up. It's pretty early for the both of us. Well, today we're going to find out those pesky questions that keep popping up over the course of your career so far. Sure. We're going to put them to rest once and for all. Let's do it. Josh, you've had an amazing career so far. The Hollywood cliche when you want to be an actor is you move to L.A. and basically all your dreams come true. Is it fair to say that sort of happened for you? Except I didn't move to L.A. That was the thing. So I was in New York. I was in Minnesota. I did a play. Somebody asked me if I wanted to audition for a couple of films. I did. I landed two things at the same time within two weeks. And then from there, I just kept getting jobs. So it's like very unusual. I understand how lucky it was. But it happened really young. I was 18 years old. So yeah, it changed my life. Incredible. I mean, your first gig or first big gig was very impressive. Not bad. Halloween H2O with Jamie Lee Curtis and LL Cool J. Yeah. That must have been quite an experience. It was. It was. LL Cool J kept getting mad at me for... I cut my own hair at that point. I don't know if you've seen it. My hair looked absolutely horrendous. But I was a little, you know, I was young, I was nervous. I was like, I don't know if I trust these people cutting my hair, these professionals. I'll just do it myself. But he was always on my back about it. I think there's a line in the film now because of it. But I loved working with him. And Jamie I've been able to hang out with a lot since then because we were in The Bear together. And also she was working somewhere I was working recently. We had lunch and yeah, it's nice. It was a great introduction to the business. You were featured on a lot of magazines, a lot of the 90s, 2000s. This is sort of like dreamboat hunk, right? Is that something that was a bit weird for you? Was it just something that comes with the job? It was, because I definitely couldn't get a date in high school, so yeah. No way, I don't believe that. Oh, wait. It took me a while to kind of grow up and kind of come into my own, and luckily at around 18 I got taller and people put me in films, and then suddenly people saw me in a different way. So what's a question that you would like us put to rest once and for all oh man i guess stop asking me what it's like to be a teen heartthrob goodbye young josh oh you know the old man you look like you enjoyed that you've had so many incredible roles over your career so far are there any that you turned down that you maybe think about from time to time i will say that there were movies that i did and movies that i didn't do that would have changed the trajectory of my career enormously but i'm very happy that I was able to kind of stay in the lane that I stayed in, which was to kind of grow as an artist, grow as an actor, and then come out as a sort of older guy who was being given these parts. You might be the first person and maybe only person I'll ever meet who's turned down the chance to be at least two different superheroes, right? Were you not tempted to maybe take on one of these roles just so you could see what you look like as an action figure? Yeah, right. I actually would bizarrely have an action figure from Penny Dreadful. Oh, of course! I mean, the most action that guy got was Between the Sheets, but somehow I got an action figure. Yeah, no, I guess I would say I was curious, and I love, when I was growing up, I really loved those kind of films. One of my favorite films when I was growing up was Batman, and I just didn't see myself in those roles at that point, especially. I was on a trajectory that I wanted to stay on. I was working with really interesting directors on projects that were helping me explore different aspects of my ability as an actor. And I don't know. It just wasn't at that point for me. Did you get as far as trying on any of the outfits? I did. Because if I put on the Batman helmet, I don't know if you'd have been able to take it back off. Right, right. You would have run away with it. Just would have worn it forever. Oh man, Warner Brothers would have been f***ed up. But you did go for a fitting. I went for a fitting for one of them, yeah. Wow. I know you're like, no, definitely not. Yeah, no, you know. Yeah, it wasn't, it was just, honestly, I knew before I even went to the fitting that it wasn't going to be for me. It just wasn't, it wasn't something that I was interested in at the time. And if you think back to that particular time, or if I think back to that particular time, I was being offered a lot of different things with a lot of great directors. And I just was focused on that, focused on the great directors and just kind of letting the other stuff Kind of go by the wayside. What is this question then that we're going to bin off forever? Yeah, why I turned down the superhero movies. That's a good one to get rid of. I'm definitely bored of that one. Let's say goodbye to that. Goodbye. That one I actually really, yeah. That was it. I'm glad we're done with it. Thank you for putting that to work. That question can't hurt you anymore, Josh. I also love this format because you get to ask these questions that everybody doesn't want to answer so then we can tear up a sheet of paper. You guys have really worked this out. We've thought it through. It's just really hard. The saying is, never meet your heroes, right? Right. In your line of work, you've probably met quite a lot of people that you look up to. Sure. Have you met a hero? Was it a pleasant experience? Yeah, I've met many heroes. I have had pleasant experiences, and I've had the other side of it. I won't say who, clearly. But I, yeah, I mean, there are some that just don't live up to the hype in real life, unfortunately. You've met ones that were a very good experience. Yes, oh, absolutely. I've met people that are above and beyond what I expected. Robert Duvall is one. Wow. Robert Duvall, I worked with him a few years ago, and he, you know, sadly passed away recently. but he is a he was a a true gentleman true artist and always always searching to do something that was kind of special and new for him even in his 80s when we worked together um and no ego which i love like being on a set with people that have a large ego is really tough because you're you're not just playing the role you're not just working on the film you're also kind of you know you're you're walking on eggshells or you know just trying to keep them happy uh this was one of it was a fantastic experience and there are many experiences like that i've had great experiences with a lot of my heroes in this business has that thing happened yet where your musical taste has been influenced by what your kids listen to yes like have they started introducing you to artists yeah yeah the whole swifty thing yeah well i took him to a taylor swift concert right before trap came out and that was the wrong thing to talk about on that tour right okay you took it to the At the Eras tour? Yeah. Amazing. I think I could probably guess what this one's gonna be, but what is the question that you would like us to stop asking you? Right, well, am I a Swiftie? Please stop asking me if I'm a Swiftie. I know I wore the bracelets in the bear, and I know I took my kids to the Eras concert, the Eras tour, but you know, let's just stop asking me that. Appreciate it, thank you. Feel better? Yeah, I'm feeling great. This is, again, the format, it's genius, well done. Thank you very much. We'll send that one off to the bosses. Josh, you're impressively not on any social media, and it seems very deliberate. Does it not even interest you a little bit? Like, you're not interested in finding out what's trending on TikTok right now? No, I have zero interest in that. Did you have a social media account, like, back in the day? I can imagine you had, like, an impressive MySpace page. Yeah, I like that. MySpace, yeah, that's probably around my era. No, I did not. I had an Instagram for just friends when it first came out, and it was mostly, remember how it was originally like a filter app? Just for pictures, yeah. For taking pictures with interesting filters, and I used to love to take pictures, which I don't anymore because everybody takes great pictures because everybody has a magnificent camera in their pocket now. So anyway, I got into it for that and had it for about a year. I don't like my brain to be hijacked in the morning, honestly. I couldn't agree more. I mean, I am on several social media accounts. Do people try and get you to sign up all the time, though? People used to, and they've stopped asking. They get the message? I think so. After about the hundredth no, I think. They get it. I think I know where this one's going. Josh, what's the question you want us to put to rest forever? I am going to put to rest, or ask people to stop asking me why I'm not on social media. This is very cathartic. Yet again, thank you. That one is close to my heart. I feel like social media has become, has such a hold over young kids these days. And obviously it's not, it's not good for their psychological development. So, yeah. Well, Josh, I think we've covered the questions we want us to stop asking you. Is there questions you want us to start asking you? Ask me about the movie I'm in. Ask me about Verity. Yes, tell me about Verity. So Verity is a psychological thriller. It's very sexy. It's based on a Colleen Hoover book. it's her first book actually so it's before she kind of got into the template that she created later on but this is like very it's it's three three three people uh Dakota Johnson and Anne Hathaway myself in a very uh interesting house in the middle of nowhere and there's lots of intrigue and lots of um you know sexy stuff happening well the story is like a twist with a twist with another twist and then a what at the end are you quite good at not giving away spoilers and keeping secrets I have to I would be I would be burnt at the stake if I said what happens but also the one thing I can say is the ending it's really kind of amazing these days you don't get this very often or ever really in film especially big film is that it's an ambiguous ending you can debate it with your friends you can fight with them about it about who's telling the truth and who's not and I think that that was the thing that really drew me to it initially it was like i don't see films like this very often it's exciting to be a part of incredible Josh you've been such a fun guest i feel lighter oh good i feel like it's been therapeutic have you enjoyed it yeah i feel like i this is my therapy session for the day let's do it again next week shall we josh thank you so much