Josh Hartnett (born July 21, 1978, in Saint Paul, Minnesota) is an American actor who rose to fame as a teen idol in the late 1990s and early 2000s with starring roles in films such as The Faculty, The Virgin Suicides (1999), Pearl Harbor (2001), and Black Hawk Down (2001). After starting his career on the short-lived TV drama Cracker (1997–1998), he continued working steadily through the 2000s in movies like Sin City and Lucky Number Slevin, before experiencing a major career resurgence with acclaimed performances in Oppenheimer (2023), Trap (2024), and Verity (2026). On television, he starred as Ethan Chandler on Showtime's Penny Dreadful (2014–2016) and later appeared in Black Mirror (2023) and The Bear (2024–2026). An interesting twist in his career is that he famously turned down the roles of Superman and Batman to avoid long-term franchise commitments, preferring to pursue more varied projects. Despite his early success, he was expelled from SUNY Purchase after writing a letter arguing that the school's evaluation system stifled creativity—a rebellious streak that has defined his selective career choices.