Josh Hartnett, 42, explains decision for turning down Superman and Batman roles: ‘I didn’t want to be boxed into that superhero type’
Josh Hartnett rejected the chance to play Superman and Batman.
The 42-year-old actor had the opportunity to play the two iconic superheroes earlier in his career but feared that he would be ‘boxed in’ and ‘someone else’s puppet’ if he took either of the comic book roles.
‘At that age it is very easy to become someone else’s tool or someone else’s puppet,; said the star who is best known for Pearl Harbor with Ben Affleck and William Lee Scott.
Looking back: Josh Hartnett explained his reasoning for turning down the roles of both Superman and Batman; seen here in May 2014
‘I was very aware of the choices I was making and I wanted them to be my choices.’
The Penny Dreadful star insists he has no regrets about turning both roles down, although he admits ‘at the time it didn’t seem like the sort of decision I would be talking about 15 years later.’
Josh added to the Metro newspaper: ‘There were a lot of powers that be that wanted me to pursue those films, but I have always been interested in stories about people and I didn’t want to be boxed into that superhero type.
A night out: The actor and his partner Tamsin Egerton arrive at the British Independent Film Awards in December 2018
‘Back then a lot of actors had to fight really hard to get their career back after they played those characters.’
Josh did not day when ‘back then’ was but he was at the height of his fame in the early 2000s; in 2005, Christian Bale played Batman in Batman Begins.
Hartnett is currently starring in Target Number One as real life Canadian journalist Victor Malarek, who attempted to free petty drug dealer Alain Olivier after he was sentenced to 100 years in a Thai prison when he was framed by police.
Superstar roles: Ben Affleck played Batman and Henry Cavill played Superman in 2016’s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice
Josh said of Malarek: ‘He is very charismatic and heroic. When it comes to corruption or abuse of power, he will throw himself in the way of the metaphorical bullets to save the people he is trying to write about.’
The Black Hawk Down actor also revealed that he spent three years researching Malarek.
Josh explained: ‘I like to prepare a lot, but I don’t go full Daniel Day Lewis – I am not immersed through the entire production as the character.’
A conscious decision: ‘I have always been interested in stories about people’ stated the Lucky Number Slevin actor, seen here in December 2018