Josh Hartnett has appeared in quite a few movies in his career since his first appearance on screen in 1998 with Steve Miner’s horror thriller Halloween H20: 20 Years Later. The actor had turned down an amazing opportunity that could create the biggest mark of success in his career.
Hartnett was featured in some successful movies including Pearl Harbor, and Ridley Scott’s Black Hawk Down but if he agreed to Christopher Nolan’s call to be featured in one of the greatest and most celebrated superhero franchises it would push his career to another dimension.
Josh Hartnett Rejected the Batman Role in Batman Begins
According to Josh Hartnett’s interview with Playboy Magazine, The Virgin Suicides actor had the opportunity to be the Caped Crusader and billionaire superhero. Christopher Nolan approached the Wicker Park actor for the role before starring Christian Bale for the lead role in the trilogy. “I was so focused on not being pigeonholed and so scared of being considered only one thing as an actor,” Hartnett told Playboy Magazine.
“I decided [Batman] wasn’t for me. Then he didn’t want to put me in The Prestige. They not only hired their Batman for it, they also hired my girlfriend [Scarlett Johansson] at the time. That’s when I realised relationships were formed in the fire of that first Batman film, and I should have been part of the relationship with this guy Nolan, who I felt was incredibly cool and very talented.”
By the time he realized his mistake, it was too late. Nolan was interested to cast him in the role as he was “a young actor whose work I was very interested in, and I had an initial conversation with him,” Nolan said. The director even cast his then-girlfriend Scarlett Johansson in the 2006 sci-fi drama The Prestige but he declined Hartnett in the movie. “He had read my brother’s script for ‘The Prestige’ at the time and was more interested in getting involved with that,” Nolan added. This time Nolan taught him a lesson. The actor admitted that being in the lead in a Nolan movie could drastically change his career.
Also read: Unparalleled Brilliance: Christopher Nolan’s Top 10 Films That Transcend Boundaries
Josh Hartnett Finally Starred in Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer
Hartnett finally appeared in Nolan’s most recent movie Oppenheminer. In the historical drama based on the father of the Atomic bomb J. Robert Oppenheimer. Hartnett played Ernest Lawrence, a Nobel Prize-winning nuclear physicist. “Ernest Lawrence is one of the most kind of fascinating 20th centuries century characters,” Hartnett said of the character. “I knew nothing about so when I got the role I just went and read as many books as I could on him to kind of find out everything I could,” he added. The actor was also enthusiastic about working with Nolan as he regretted his early opportunity.
“It’s a dream I think most actors have to work with Chris and I’ve, I’ve known him for a long time. I missed an opportunity to work with him early on in my career and to be able to be called back up essentially like to, to work with him was a fantastic thing and like a dream come true. So, I was just before, I even before I even read the script, honestly I was like yes ‘I will do this,’” Hartnett said of working with Nolan again.
But unlike, Cillian Murphy who played Oppenheimer, Hartnett had to gain a bunch of weight to play his character. “I gained a bunch of weight. Cillian had the hard job losing a bunch of weight, I just got to eat whatever I wanted,” The Faculty actor said of preparing for the role. The actor also said that he had a great time being on set as the atmosphere transformed the actors into 40s.
Oppenheimer is currently showing in theaters.
Also read: Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer Owes $4,980,000 to Barbie
Source: Independent.co.uk
