JOSH HARTNETT 'I WANTED TO DEFINE MYSELF'

THE STAR BECAME A HEARTTHROB IN THE '90s BEFORE REJECTING THE SPOTLIGHT FOR A CAREER ON HIS OWN TERMS. NOW HE'S A HAPPY DAD OF FOUR WITH A COMEBACK IN FULL SWING

- BENJAMIN VANHOOSE

New perspective takes time, and Josh Hartnett has found it. "I don't mind getting older," he says two days after his 46th birthday. "The passage of time these days feels a little bit daunting, how quickly it's going. But age is a privilege. You always have to remember that." The star's approach to fame is different from the days when he felt trapped by his heartthrob label. After his big-screen debut as Jamie Lee Curtis's son in 1998's Halloween H20:20 Years Later, Hartnett landed roles in movies like The Virgin Suicides, Pearl Harbor and Black Hawk Down. At the time, though, the actor from Minnesota wanted to be seen as more than a Tiger Beat pinup. "I was frustrated," he recalls. "I didn't want to be defined by other people. I wanted to define myself." He did, opting for a quieter life and quirkier roles and now he's grateful to be a part of projects he loves, like the Oscar-winning film Oppenheimer and a recurring role on the FX series The Bear.