There is the misconception that Josh Hartnett left primary studio films to pursue a career in independent cinema. The 42-year-old actor has been independent, despite appearing in primary films such as The Faculty and Pearl Harbor.
“Everyone assumes I took the resolution of transferring from studio to independent movies, but I did,” he tells Observer over the phone from Paris, where he’s shooting an upcoming HBO miniseries.
“My first films were in the studio formula and were horrible, or adjacent to horror,” Hartnett says, recalling being selected for Halloween H20 in 1998. “And then I introduced the suicide virgins and my arrival in independent cinema. Be. on the set of The Virgin Suicides made me recognize all that I can do with very little investment, and only with the pastime of the filmmaker and very committed people.
Since then there have been more important films, he admits, but “it was my arrival in the business and I think I’ve been looking for that feeling.” What I can feel with some of the videos I made recently. »
One such recent film is Most Wanted, a Canadian indie full of life written and directed through Daniel Rothrough. In the film, based on real events, Hartnett plays real-life journalist Victor Malarek, who discovered the government’s corruption in the 1980s in an investigation into the arrest of a drug addict. Although Rothrough began looking for the film to be shot in 2006 and approached Hartnett for the role of Malarek five years ago, the issues of corrupt police forces and the importance of facts in the media resonate today with force.
SEE ALSO: Michaela Coel Michaela Coel knows all about the act of forgiving herself
“The World Wide Web, no matter how much it is a fantastic and democratizing presence in many ways, unfortunately puts very good, requested and intelligent reviews at the same point as chatter,” Hartnett says. “This is a vital film not only for this, but also because it talks about the concept of forcing fact and how infrequently even the journalistic status quo can overlook something. It takes the paintings of other committed people to locate the fact things. “
Harnett met Malarek in Toronto even before he selected, and it was this meeting, along with Roby’s fondness for the project, that convinced him to sign.
“It has a transparent purpose that few other people have,” the actor says of the genuine Malarek. “Some might say it’s not usually careless, but it has a sweet look that was written in the script, but I felt it made it more confusing and engaging as a character. It was this crusader who saw himself as the last possibility of truth, who had no concern for his own well-being, however, who was suddenly affected by having to worry not only for himself but his new family. He replaced his vision of things. I’ve had a lot of conversations with him about this.
He adds: “Obviously, the character is very different from me, but I’m going through similar fun the moment I was about to have my first child. So I was attracted to that fun too.
Harnett spent time with Malarek before filming, and remains in touch with the reporter, but Malarek never made it to the set, which was useful to Hartnett and Roby. Although the film is based on genuine facts, some main points were compressed or fictitious for the story (including the call of the arrested addict), and the actor sought to make sure he captured what was in the script of what Malarek remembers.
“Not only was it vital to interpret it honestly, but it was also vital to play the character in the play the way the character would be played,” Harnett says. “If Victor were there and gave me data that day about what he thought and felt at the time, it would be a disaster. He was aware of that. He had many conversations with Daniel, and Daniel had done many studies. about Victor through other people. And I had also done my homework on Victor, so we had a clever concept of what we wanted him to be. He told me he liked the movie. And let’s locate him in his next ebook if you think so.”
It is the kind of transformative role that allows an actor to dissociate himself from his own old aesthetic. In the film, Hartnett is almost unrecognizable with his scruffy hair and moustache (which were only partially real). And it’s not that the particular actor is looking for this kind of role or character. It’s more than he has the will to pitch in films that don’t frame him.
“When I read scripts, I read them with my brains open and I see them for their price in themselves,” he says. “If I was looking for a specific type of paper for me, I’d lock myself in a very small movie organization and maybe wait a long time before I got one.
He continues: “Basically, I’ve made independent films in my career and they paint very well and they don’t do it at all. And it’s hard to see that those who may have been wonderful don’t cross the line, so it does get satisfied when something like this happens and everyone is really interested in doing it too.”
Hartnett believes he has had the chance in recent years to locate films like Most Wanted where he can paint with enthusiastic filmmakers and with a singular vision. He’s aiming at Oh Lucy! and this year, Inherit the Viper, other examples of projects that have allowed it to thrive in this independent system. Recently finished Cash Truck, a film starring Guy Ritchie, some other filmmaker he admires, and is now in Paris filming a four-episode HBO series with Raoul Peck (I’m not your nigger).
“All the videos I’ve been to haven’t been great, yet I’ve been very lucky to have been in a lot of very smart underrated videos,” the actor says. “Having a small budget and short time rarely produces something you can’t get anywhere else. There are administrators I greatly appreciate, like Taika Waititi or Guy Ritchie, who have entered the studio formula and retained their extremely independent voice.
In the end, he says, he would prefer the uncertainty of declining budgets and self-employment to the box office hits that explained his career. “It’s just the concept of a film made through a committee that scares me,” he says. In small projects, “Nobody says: “It’s a massive investment and this character can’t chew gum or can’t say the words in that order, because it can alienate part of the audience.”
His most recent film does not fall into this category. “I just found out early in my career that I like being on set with someone who treats the movie the way I would,” he says. “I feel lucky that Daniel brings it to me.”
Most Wanted opens in theaters and on call on July 24.
We understand: he likes to be in control of his own experience on the Internet. But advertising revenue helps our journalism. To read our full stories, turn off your ad blocker, we’d appreciate it.
Below are the steps you can follow to load Observer.com into your browser:
Click the AdBlock button in your browser and do not run on the pages of that domain.
Click the AdBlock Plus button in your browser and Enabled on this site.
Click the AdBlock Plus button in your browser and turn off Observer.com.