Josh Hartnett has explained why his four children have never watched any of his films.
The 46-year-old actor, who shares kids aged two to eleven with wife Tamsin Egerton, said that his brood views his Hollywood career with complete indifference. “My kids have never seen me in anything,” he said. “I like it that way. I think it’s healthy.”
Hartnett acknowledged that curiosity might strike eventually. “I know some of their friends have seen me in movies, but [my kids] haven’t shown that much interest,” he continued. “They’re like, ‘It’s daddy’s work’, but they’re just living their lives and they’re happy with their own stuff.”
The “Oppenheimer” star noted that his children’s priorities run in the opposite direction entirely. Rather than asking to screen his filmography, they prefer to demonstrate their own pursuits to him. Hartnett has embraced this dynamic, suggesting the separation between his professional and personal worlds suits everyone involved.
Fatherhood has also sharpened his ability to compartmentalize. Hartnett has spoken before about the difficulty of shedding intense roles, a challenge that plagued him during his rise to fame in the late 1990s with hits like “The Faculty” and “Pearl Harbor.” “It’s easier for me than it used to be when I was younger,” he explained. “I just developed techniques for all of work that it doesn’t have to stick with me for a long time.”
Certain performances still linger more than others. “There are, of course, certain scenes that are stickier than other scenes, especially ones that are incredibly intense,” he said. “But I figured out how to leave my work at work.”
The demands of raising four young children forced the final evolution of that skill. “When you have a lot of kids, you can’t bring it home,” Hartnett added. “You can’t do that. So, I had to learn not to.”
While his household may remain Hartnett-free on their screens, audiences will soon encounter him in a markedly different register. He stars as Jeremy Crawford in “Verity,” the film adaptation of Colleen Hoover’s bestselling psychological thriller. The project pairs him with Anne Hathaway and Dakota Johnson, and arrives in theaters this fall.
Hartnett’s career has undergone a notable resurgence following his deliberate retreat from the spotlight. After turning down high-profile superhero roles and stepping back from Hollywood’s center, he has reemerged in character-driven projects including Christopher Nolan’s Oscar-winning “Oppenheimer.” The actor has credited his family-focused lifestyle abroad with sustaining both his craft and his sanity.
“Verity” opens in cinemas from October 2.