At some point, it really feels like people stopped giving a crap about Josh Hartnett (probably when he started looking like Ashton Kutcher, amirite?). About 14 years ago, he was the next big thing, the bad boy/heartthrob/Brando/James Dean. That was how he was billed, that was the press around him. Then he made some terrible career decisions and he spent a lot less time in LA and NYC. And people sort of forgot about him. He’s currently in Showtime’s Penny Dreadful, and he’s promoting the new season by sitting down for a strangely accusatory Playboy 20 Questions. Like, half the piece is the Playboy interviewer grilling Josh about all of the parts he could have had if only he had made smarter career choices. Just FYI: Josh talked about some of this stuff last year in Details, like how he was offered Superman, Spiderman and Batman. In this Playboy piece, the focus is mainly on how Christopher Nolan wanted him for Batman.

Why he turned down Batman, Superman and Spider-Man: “The intensity of my sudden fame was overwhelming for me, and in the middle of that, I felt I couldn’t trust any new person I met or their motives. I spent a lot of time back home in Minnesota with my friends and family. I did smaller movies, and I stopped working for a while. If I could go back and take with me my wisdom of today, I wish I’d been more resilient. I hope I wouldn’t be as panicked as I was. Maybe I’d have known that no matter what people try to take from you, you don’t have to give it to them. I’ve definitely grown a bit.

The blowback of saying ‘no’ to Christopher Nolan: “I’ve definitely said no to some of the wrong people. I said no because I was tired and wanted to spend more time with my friends and family. That’s frowned upon in this industry. People don’t like being told no. I don’t like it. I learned my lesson when [writer-director] Christopher Nolan and I talked about Batman. I decided it wasn’t for me. Then he didn’t want to put me in The Prestige. They not only hired their Batman for it, they also hired my girlfriend at the time…That’s when I realized relationships were formed in the fire of that first Batman film and I should have been part of the relationship with this guy Nolan, who I felt was incredibly cool and very talented. I was so focused on not being pigeonholed and so scared of being considered only one thing as an actor. I should have thought, Well, then, work harder, man. Watching Christian Bale go on to do so many other things has been just awesome. I mean, he’s been able to overcome that. Why couldn’t I see that at the time?

Working with Ben Affleck back in the day: “In what universe does Ben Affleck win an Academy Award for a best picture he starred in and directed? I knew he had it in him to do whatever he wanted to do. Ben has always been the smartest guy, but he holds that in reserve for some reason.”

Why he’s dated so many co-stars: “I think it’s a respectable way of going about it. I’ve met very important people in my life doing films. Sometimes that had consequences that were just awful for everybody involved. Some were fantastic all the way through. Everybody makes mistakes dating people they work with. They’re whom I’m attracted to because I share experiences with them and understand a bit about what they are and what they do. If I were able to go back in time, I don’t know if I could have done anything any different.

[From Playboy]

I feel like Josh made that “why do you date costars?” question unnecessarily complicated. Lots of actors date costars, it’s a pretty normal thing. As for the stuff about Nolan… I didn’t realize how far Hartnett got into the process of casting Batman. Do you think Nolan really took it out on him for saying no? Probably, although I would imagine Nolan has a different version of events. I don’t blame directors for not giving Hartnett much time after he refused major projects – the attitude among directors must be, “Hey, he doesn’t want to be a star, so don’t give any project that would make him a star.”

Oh, and that’s Tamsin Egerton in the background – that’s his girlfriend. I think they’re living together now. They were costars on a film that has never been released.

Photos courtesy of WENN.