Before the release of “Trap”, focus on the return to grace of American actor Josh Hartnett

Seen in “Pearl Harbor” and “Virgin Suicides” more than twenty years ago before turning his back on Hollywood, Josh Hartnett is back through the front door, cultivating his image as a jack-of-all-trades actor.

Here he is back in the foreground. Josh Hartnett, 46, the quintessential American hunk in appearance, plays the title role in Trapin theaters Friday, August 2 in the United States and Wednesday, August 7 in France. M. Night Shyamalan’s new thriller offers Josh Hartnett one of these roles “unique” that he has long desired.

“These directors now find me interesting“, he confided to AFP, specifying that his disappearance was never voluntary. At the beginning of his career, the American actor followed a classic Hollywood trajectory. His first roles in independent productions, such as The Faculty (1998) by Robert Rodriguez or Virgin Suicides (1999) Sofia Coppola’s films boosted her popularity. In 2001, her career really took off when director Michael Bay offered her one of the leading roles in Pearl Harboralongside Ben Affleck.

After achieving fame, however, Josh Hartnett refused to play Superman twice. “I just didn’t want my life to be swallowed up by the work“, he says in an interview with The GuardianThe actor abruptly left Los Angeles in the 2000s and gradually disappeared from the radar. SHis sudden departure from Hollywood, first for his native Minnesota, then for England – where he still lives – takes him away from the studios.

The actor never stopped acting, but offers of major roles dried up. The American press began to publish articles asking: “What happened to Josh Hartnett?“. Then itIn recent years, the actor has once again made a name for himself with a few appearances in series The Bear And Black Mirrorconfirming, little by little, a return to the forefront.

In 2023, the actor landed a key role in OppenheimerChristopher Nolan’s portrait of the father of the atomic bomb, which won seven statuettes at the last Oscars ceremony in March. Josh Hartnett plays the role of physicist Ernest Lawrence, a close friend of Robert Oppenheimer, whom he met at the University of Berkeley in 1929.

Josh Hartnett is therefore making a return to his roots with Trap. In this feature film, he plays Cooper, a father who takes his teenage daughter to a Taylor Swift-style pop star concert. But behind this affectionate father figure hides a serial killer wanted by the police, who has set up the event especially to catch him.

“The concept of this movie, which is so cool, is that we tell you right from the start that he’s the bad guy.“, explains the actor.”And yet, we need (…) you to support him so that he can get out of this situation.“

Back in the spotlight, Josh Hartnett still enjoys having been able to collaborate with “a director who, according to him, is one of the best at the moment”. To embody the murderous father of Trapthe actor read books in order to understand how some psychopaths can be “absolutely charming“and gifted for”hide in broad daylight“Research that is as fascinating as it is disturbing,” he confides.

“I’ve always tried to do things outside the box.“, he continues. “And now I’m not put under a label anymore and I’m allowed to play these different characters. (…) It’s great, I feel really lucky.“