Josh Hartnett relishes 'experimentation' in his acting work

Josh Hartnett is determined to experiment with his film work.

The 45-year-old actor has shown a preference for starring in indie films during his career and explained that it comes from a desire to collaborate with those who he regards as "artists".

Speaking to Variety, Josh said: "I love experimentation in film. And these guys are still at the very top of their game in experimenting in film.

"I've never been anti (mainstream films); I was just anti-paint by numbers. I want to work with people who are, for lack of a better term, artists.

"I've always been able to do that, luckily, but some of those films were not received by the public the same way I'd hoped, and they were small."

Hartnett explained that his penchant for indie projects was started by his role in the 1999 film 'The Virgin Suicides' – which is now acknowledged as a cult classic despite making little impression at the box office.

He said: "My hope was for all of these films that they would be able to kind of rise to that level. Some of them are better than others, but I think all were worthy swings."

Josh revealed that his approach to selecting parts has changed and he is willing to adapt to a character if he enjoys working with the cast and crew on a project.

The 'Pearl Harbor' actor said: "I used to be really interested in the effect of the character and what the character meant to me, personally.

"I wanted to find a specific type of character, when I had choices when I was younger. And then as I got older, I realise, actually, I want to choose things that are way outside of what I understand.

"I also don't really care about what the character is as much as I care about the people I'm working with. If it's great people, then it's my job to figure out what the character is."

Read the full interview with Josh Hartnett at https://variety.com/2024/tv/features/josh-hartnett-heartthrob-black-mirror-trap-movie-1236029045/