Josh Hartnett reveals what makes him ‘really want to try’ a movie role

Josh Hartnett is determined to remain "open" to new career challenges.

The 48-year-old actor, who recently starred alongside Anne Hathaway and Dakota Johnson in Verity, the new psychological thriller film directed by Michael Showalter, wants to keep an open mind towards acting gigs.

The Hollywood star told Variety, "The things that are always going to get me interested are the people involved. Beyond that, if it’s something I haven’t explored before, I really want to try it.”

"You never can tell what’s going to come along, and staying open to that. I’ve stopped putting my own concepts of what I would like my career to be and started to look at what’s there and be practical about it. 'This is what people are offering.' I love to do new and different work, and stuff that’s exciting to me is usually the stuff I haven’t really thought about that much beforehand,” he added.

Josh previously played a murderer in Trap, the 2024 thriller film, and Nobel Prize-winning physicist Ernest Lawrence in Oppenheimer.

The actor gushed over the challenge of playing such diverse characters. "When someone like M. Night Shyamalan comes along and says, 'Hey, you want to play a serial killer who’s a really good dad?' 'Yeah! I don’t know why, but I got to figure this out. I got to know this guy. I got to figure out how to play him.'”

"It was the same thing with playing Ernest Lawrence. I had very little understanding of who he was. I was excited to dive in and read [Michael Hiltzik’s nonfiction book] Big Science and to get to know this character in among that larger story. And, obviously, the chance to work with Christopher Nolan. So, it’s that combination that’s always exciting to me,” he admitted.

Additionally, even though Josh is determined to stay open-minded when it comes to working, he doesn't know where he'll head next in his career. "I can very honestly say I have no idea what the next thing is going to be, which is exciting to me as well."