Josh Hartnett
Josh Hartnett relishes his anonymity and was wary of how a role in "Pearl Harbor" would change his life. Reluctant star steps
into the spotlight
By Tim Ryan
Star-Bulletin"I wasn't sure I wanted to do it for the same reasons that some people wanted to do it," Hartnett said.
"I was doing pretty well with a lot of small movies. I wasn't sure I wanted to have all that change and I knew 'Pearl Harbor' would change that. There's a price for everything and I'm still not sure I want to pay that price."
In the end, Randall Wallace's script sold him on the role.
"I figured this would be a once-in-a-lifetime experience."
Hartnett's co-star, Ben Affleck, knows first-hand what it feels like to go from anonymity to superstardom overnight.
"Relationships with family and friends is completely altered," Affleck says. "Beautiful women will camp out on his lawn overnight, but you can't sleep with all of them."That's a joke people, a joke."
Such popularity wouldn't seem to be a problem for the tall, slender young man, with his high cheek bones and deep-set eyes. But he seems truly shy and modest and doesn't take advantage of his talent or looks, according to those who've worked with him.
People magazine includes Hartnett and Affleck on its 50 Most Eligible People list, but Hartnett could do without the attention.
"I'm just grounded about life, cannot take myself seriously about this, you know, 'hot guy thing,' " he says. "It's even embarrassing to say it."
Hartnett does have "a sometime girlfriend" who is not an actor. "That's another way to keep myself grounded."
The actor says he has "no real home" now except when he visits friends and family in Minnesota. "I don't really live in L.A., don't really live anywhere, just sort of hang out all over the place," he says. "It's OK, I'm 22, I don't need a home, not yet."
Hartnett was 15 when he turned to theater. "Acting just came along and hit me; it wasn't a conscious decision to where I said I'm going to do this," he said. "I was recovering from a knee injury and there wasn't anything else, like a sport, for me to do."
So he joined the cast of "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer," playing Huck Finn. "I realized that you don't have to be not cool to be in the theater or be cool to be an athlete," he said. "I was really worried about being cool back then and I suddenly let it all go. ...
"You just gotta maintain the idea of who you are and take life on its own terms. I mean, fame is fleeting and I may have to go back to Minnesota to find work when this ride is over."
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