Josh on Here On Earth

Josh Hartnett's gruff voice makes it sound like he's talking to you from his bed. He's also got that bed-head thing going on when he enters the makeshift press room at the Beverly Hills Four Seasons to talk about Here On Earth. Between his no-fuss appearance and his hypnotic, smoky eyes, one can sense a very laid back vibe from this 22-year-old Minnesota native. Even though he's one of the newest pin-up boys on the Hollywood scene, he strikes me as more Johnny Depp than Casper Van Dien. A gaggle of screaming girls would embarrass, not excite him. With all the screen time he's got coming up, it's unlikely that the attention will stop anytime soon. Josh—who made his film debut playing Jamie Lee Curtis' son in Halloween H20. He went on to appear in The Faculty and will soon be seen in The Virgin Suicides, Town and Country, and O, the adaptation of Shakespeare's Othello. In Here On Earth he plays Jasper, a small-town guy who finds himself vying to keep the affections of his girlfriend (Leelee Sobieski) when she starts to fall for a rich, private-school student (Chris Klein). Engrossed in his Here On Earth role, he spent three months learning to play the violin for the movie. He liked it so much that he had his coach teach him to play Vivaldi's "Winter." It's hard to imagine Josh playing the violin—but he definitely strikes a chord with fans.

How has your life changed in the last few years?

It hasn't changed that much. I do a lot of [press] and I get to do a lot of movies now. But, as far as how my personal life has changed, I've kind of kept it the same way. I live in Minnesota and I still have my friends back there. I try to keep a level head about it all.

Did you use any other influences to help you with your character or did you approach it as a movie on its own?

I never look at other movies for inspiration for a character. I heard that somebody—it might have been Picasso—read and listened to his music for his inspiration. That's kind of the way it is. You have to look at the world around you. If you're trying to be a character that's already been played, you're bound to screw up the intention. You'd be a mimic.

Are you a romantic? Do you remember your first love?

I have romantic ideals, but I'm just terrible. I do grand gestures, but they always turn out flawed and goofy. I never get in trouble for them because they suck so bad—people just forgive me.

Your character and Chris Klein's character aren't exactly friends. Was it hard to hate each other?

You can separate all that. That's what acting's about. You can't take all that home with you—animosity, especially. It's just bad for you. How did you prepare for your emotional scenes? There are certain tricks. You can think about a certain event that will trigger an emotion in you. If you can look at your co-stars as human beings, you can start to relate to them and love them and then it all hurts. Everything that you imagine hurts.

Any cool stories from the set?

The car race at the beginning of the movie [between Chris and Josh's characters] was coordinated by stunt people, but we got to do a lot of the driving. I tend to want to do as much as I can, but usually I get pulled off the stunt. We had to drive with the camera on the hood of the car and it's really a lot slower than it looks in the movie. But, then after it was done, Chris and I would turn around and race back. He had that wimpy Mercedes. I had this bad ass car. I won the real race.

How do you feel about premieres and getting dressed up?

It's gracious to show up. They did give you a job. I see it like that.

What's your favorite movie of all time?

I used to love On the Waterfront. I watched it a lot as a kid. Easy Rider, because it's just cool. My first real favorite movie was Batman.

Do you read articles written about you?

I read them because I'm curious, but I don't take it seriously. You can't sum someone up in a couple of pages—I would never do that. They deserve a whole novel. I can't be mad at it because it does help my career, and it's part of the business, but it's not my favorite thing.

Is school on hold for now?

I want to go to college and study literature and history— the stuff I'm just aching to learn again.

What's up next for you?

Town and County, O, Blow Dry, and The Virgin Suicides are all going to come out in the next year, which is going to be crazy. I had a really great time on Virgin Suicides with [director] Sophia Coppola, and I loved everybody who worked on it. It was independent filmmaking at its greatest. It was like (snaps his fingers to indicate how fast it went) and we were done. Then I did Town and Country, which was exactly the opposite. It was much slower, had a much bigger budget and more elaborate sets. That one lasted a little too long for my taste, but I think the movie's going to be really good. O was awesome. And, I just landed a part in Pearl Harbor. Michael Bay is directing and Jerry Bruckheimer is producing. I go off to Hawaii for boot camp soon for that movie—you guys have seen the last of me.

What is your idea of heaven on earth?

Uh… there's a time when everything goes right, when everything clicks. (laughs) But, basically it's just when I'm looking really, really good.