Joshua Daniel "Josh" Hartnett (born July 21, 1978) is an American actor and film producer. He came to fame after his first film role, in 1998's
Halloween H20: 20 Years Later, and as
Matt Eversmann in the 2001 film
Black Hawk Down.
Early life
Hartnett grew up in
Saint Paul, Minnesota and was raised mostly by his father, Daniel Hartnett (a building manager), and stepmother, Molly (an artist).
He has three younger half-siblings, named Jessica, Jake and Joe and is of
Irish ancestry.
He was raised
Roman Catholic,
attending Nativity of Our Lord Catholic Grade School, where he played Adam Apple in an eighth grade production of "Krazy Kamp". He later attended
Cretin-Derham Hall High School before switching to
South High School in
Minneapolis,
Minnesota, from which he graduated in June 1996. Hartnett played
football in high school, but stopped because of a broken left knee.
Hartnett got his first job at a local video store. He had also worked at
McDonald's and
Burger King for a short time before getting his start in acting at Youth Performance Company in Minneapolis. He became a
vegetarian at the age of 12 but temporarily returned to meat eating during the shooting of
The Black Dahlia.
