Josh Hartnett made his debut in the American crime drama series ‘Cracker’ in 1997. He played the role of ‘Michael Fitzgerald’ and remained a part of the series until it went off-air in 1998. Hartnett went on to make his silver screen debut in the 1998 American science-fiction horror film ‘The Faculty,’ directed by Robert Rodriguez. The film received mostly positive reviews from critics and did decent business at the box office. He also earned a ‘Saturn Award’ nomination for his performance in the film. That same year, he also appeared in the American slasher film ‘Halloween H20: 20 Years Later’ which was also a commercial success. Hartnett also received the ‘Blockbuster Entertainment Award’ and ‘MTV Movie Award’ nominations for his portrayal of ‘John Tate’ in the film. In 1999, he starred as ‘Trip Fontaine’ in the American psychological drama film ‘The Virgin Suicides,’ directed by Sofia Coppola. The film saw mostly positive reviews upon release. He next appeared in the 2000 American romantic drama film ‘Here on Earth,’ directed by Mark Piznarski. The film was panned by critics and was a box office bomb.
He played the role of ‘Matt Eversmann’ in the 2001 war film ‘Black Hawk Down,’ directed by Ridley Scott. The film garnered positive reviews from critics and won 2 ‘Academy Awards.’ That same year, he also starred as ‘Danny Walker’ in the Michael Bay-directed American romantic war drama film ‘Pearl Harbor.’ Even though the film was panned by critics, it managed to come out as a commercial success. ‘Pearl Harbor’ also won the ‘Academy Award’ for Best Sound Editing. Hartnett next appeared in films like ‘40 Days and 40 Nights’ (2002), ‘Hollywood Homicide’ (2003), ‘Wicker Park’ (2004), ‘Mozart and the Whale’ (2005), ‘Sin City’ (2005), ‘The Black Dahlia’ (2006), ‘Lucky Number Slevin’ (2006), ‘Resurrecting the Champ’ (2007), ‘Stories USA’ (2007), and ‘30 Days of Night’ (2007). In 2008, he was seen playing the role of ‘Tom Sterling’ in the American drama film ‘August,’ directed by Austin Chick. The film failed to impress the critics. Hartnett was also the producer of ‘August.’ That same year, he also appeared in the Internet-exclusive 12-part episodic film series ‘T Takes,’ created by Brody Baker.
Hartnett continued to star in films like ‘I Come with the Rain’ (2009), ‘Bunraku’ (2011), ‘The Lovers’ (2013), ‘Parts per Billion’ (2014), ‘Wild Horses’ (2015), ‘Oh Lucy!’ (2017), ‘The Ottoman Lieutenant’ (2017), ‘She's Missing’ (2019), ‘Inherit the Viper’ (2020), ‘Wrath of Man’ (2021), and ‘Ida Red’ (2021). He was last seen in the 2022 miniseries ‘The Fear Index’ where he played the role of ‘Alexander Hoffmann.’ He is all set to appear in the upcoming American epic biographical thriller film ‘Oppenheimer,’ directed by Christopher Nolan.