Josh Hartnett | Explain This | Esquire

Esquire

8/2/2024

Transcript

00:00Did you know you were a style meme?

00:02No, but that's hilarious.

00:03That's the style that people like?

00:06Is that a li- do they like it?

00:08Or is it just a meme because it's bizarre?

00:12I'm gonna say that I look like I weigh about 12 pounds

00:16and I'm wearing my dad's shirt

00:18over my dad's shirt.

00:21Hi, I'm Josh Hartnett

00:23and Esquire wanted to ask me some things.

00:30How did the Bear cameo come to be?

00:32I've known Christor for a long time.

00:35He and I were talking about doing his first film together

00:38years ago and he was, you know,

00:41giving me the background of the story that he wanted to tell,

00:44which was in Chicago as well.

00:46And then he also just told me about this other script

00:48that he had on the side because his sister's a chef

00:50and he wanted to do a film about a family

00:52in this small restaurant in Chicago.

00:56I don't think it was called The Bear yet,

00:58but it was another film script.

01:00And then we never ended up making our film.

01:02We lost touch.

01:03And like two years ago, The Bear came out.

01:05I watched it.

01:06I was like, holy shit, that's Chris.

01:08Gave him a call.

01:09I was like, congratulations.

01:10You've got the biggest show in the world right now

01:12and it's the thing we talked about.

01:14And he was like, yeah, you should come be in it.

01:17And so I did.

01:19And everybody just has a good time.

01:20It's like a five-hour workday.

01:22They shouldn't get away with that.

01:23Like somebody should go and-

01:24the fun police should go and like stop them

01:26because they're just like, they go to set

01:29and they like play for a few hours

01:31and by lunch they're all done.

01:33And then the show gets like Emmys and SAGs

01:37and you know, everybody watches it.

01:39It's just not fair.

01:40It's not fair.

01:41I mean, while I'm at it, it's totally fair.

01:43Have you ever been tempted to play a superhero?

01:46Yeah, I've been tempted, of course.

01:49There isn't a genre that I wouldn't be tempted to explore.

01:53It's not about the genre.

01:55It's about what you think you can bring to the character.

01:58And I think what's clear about the films

02:00that I've done in my career,

02:02I'm always looking for something

02:03that's a little bit challenging, a little bit new.

02:05So I'll continue to do that.

02:07And if at some point that happens to be a superhero role,

02:10it will be.

02:11I don't know.

02:12So how did I prepare to play a tough role

02:14like a serial killer?

02:15Read a lot of books about sociopathy.

02:18Try to understand what this type of person

02:23would find alarming and what they wouldn't.

02:26And maybe throw in a bit of mania.

02:30All of us have a light in our personalities,

02:33but Cooper's lights are maybe a little brighter

02:36and his darks are definitely darker.

02:39And that's fun to take on.

02:42Knight said to me that he thought

02:43that this character should be in Technicolor,

02:46meaning just sort of very vibrant.

02:48And for me as an actor, that was a challenge to pull off.

02:52Also, also a lot of fun

02:54because challenges are the most fun.

02:56If you were offered a journey into space,

02:58would you take it?

02:59I love this question.

03:01So I've heard two theories on this.

03:03One, it's unlike anything that you've ever experienced

03:08or would ever experience.

03:09So you should because it's phenomenal

03:12to go out into the great unknown,

03:15look back at where we are

03:17and recontextualize your experience of your life.

03:20But then I heard David Attenborough,

03:22who I love, say recently,

03:24why would you go into space?

03:25There's nothing there.

03:26All the good stuff's down here.

03:28I think I've always had a fascination with space

03:30because part of that, a few generations of people,

03:33post-moon landing, who are obsessed with it.

03:37I don't know.

03:38I saw Star Wars too many times.

03:39Of course, I want a lightsaber.

03:41First off, I've been a huge fan of Black Mirror

03:43since the beginning.

03:44I think Charlie Brooker's a genius.

03:47He's from satire.

03:49That's what I think levels up that show so much

03:53because over the years,

03:55there have been lots of attempts

03:56at making something that's similar to that

03:58and people can't pull it off

04:00because they're too self-serious.

04:01They're trying to find a way to predict the future

04:03and just leave it at that.

04:04Charlie's not necessarily trying to predict the future.

04:06He's thinking of the most absurd outcome

04:09and it just happens to come true a lot.

04:11What do you remember from this moment in your career?

04:14If I remember correctly,

04:15I wasn't supposed to be on the cover of this

04:17and they put me on the cover after the fact

04:20and I look like I'm like 11 years old.

04:24Whoever the giant person with sparkly red lips

04:27that kissed me was very sweet.

04:31All I remember is that it was all sort of brand new to me

04:34and then when they party for this at Sundance

04:36when it was coming out,

04:37Johnny Rotten was there,

04:40which is very cool.

04:41Of all the characters you've created,

04:43which of your characters would you most want to have a dinner with

04:46and why?

04:47Well, there's a lot I could just cross off the list right away.

04:50I mean, it'd be nice to go out to dinner with Zeke.

04:52What is Zeke up to these days?

04:54But then again, you know, Ethan Chandler's not too bad.

04:57Not many chances to meet a werewolf.

04:59I've met Matt Eversman, who is a real guy.

05:02I have had a meal with him.

05:04I think I'm going to go with my initial instinct and say Zeke.

05:07I want to know if he's still selling scat

05:09and who's buying it.

05:11So what comes to mind when you recall

05:13working with Michael Bay on Pearl Harbor?

05:15There was massive explosions on set every day.

05:18We were running around in the actual place.

05:23I'm surprised no one got hurt.

05:25But it was a wonderful experience.

05:28We were in Hawaii and we were making something

05:30that was a beautiful romantic film

05:33that had the backdrop of World War II.

05:36I don't know.

05:37I just had a really nice time.

05:39It was also a very interesting moment in my career

05:42because I had done Versus Suicides at the faculty

05:45in Halloween H20,

05:46but I hadn't done something really big like this.

05:49Ben and I got along really well.

05:51Everybody on set was very kind.

05:54It was my first experience of a giant film.

05:57So what was the audition process like for Oppenheimer?

06:00It wasn't really an audition process.

06:03I've known Chris for a long time.

06:07They called me and said that they wanted me

06:10to look at the script.

06:12They asked me if I would make a tape.

06:15I did, but apparently Chris didn't watch it

06:19and he just hired me.

06:23How did you come to direct Kid Cudi's

06:25Pursuit of Happiness music video?

06:27I met Scott, Kid Cudi, in New York

06:30when he was having his first gig

06:32just after Day and Night came out.

06:34He came out and he was awesome.

06:36His performance was amazing.

06:37I was like, this kid is going to be huge.

06:39He came off stage and he was like,

06:40hey man, I know you.

06:42I was like, oh yeah, I'm Josh, how are you?

06:44He's like, I'm Scott.

06:45He's like, do you want to be friends?

06:47I swear to God, that guy list.

06:50Over the course of the first year of hanging out,

06:52he was like, I want to do a new video

06:54for this new thing that I've got.

06:55I wrote the concept for it and then he loved it

06:58and we went and shot it in one night.

07:00Thank you for joining me and asking me questions

07:02and I hope I gave you guys really insightful answers,

07:05which I don't usually do.

07:08Please go watch me in Trap.

Josh Hartnett | Explain This | Esquire

Category

Transcript

Recommended