Thanks for the video, Jessica!
Another written interview, although not much new;
Josh Hartnett is amused to be called a “Hollywood cad”, having been linked with Scarlett Johansson and Rihanna in recent months. But the truth is, the 29-year-old star largely keeps out of the limelight, and that includes keeping away from the kinds of places Paris Hilton, Britney Spears and Lindsay Lohan hang out. Apparently he prefers to go back to Minnesota, where he was raised, rather than spend too much time in Tinseltown.
In his latest film 30 Days of Night, Hartnett is joined by Australian actress Melissa George and veteran actor Danny Huston. In Barrow, Alaska, the northernmost town in the U.S, the winter sun sets and does not rise for 30 days and nights. From the darkness comes an evil force that strikes terror on the town, and all hope is pinned on a husband-and-wife cop team.
When do you think vampire movies started getting off course? Maybe with Bram Stoker’s Dracula?
JOSH HARTNETT: I love that movie. I really like and appreciate vampire movies so I don’t have any qualms with where the vampire movies have gone. But I think 30 Days of Night is definitely bringing it to a different place, a much more terrifying place. I don’t mind not being scared if I can see a guy giving a performance way, way outside the bounce like Gary Oldman. He is so intense and he gives great performances.
What about the Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt’s Interview with a Vampire?
[Laughs] But that was a very incredible sexy movie.
But maybe too sexy for a vampire movie. They should have been more ferocious.
That’s the thing [director] David Slade really wanted to stir away from in this film. He didn’t want the vampires to be fashionistas [laughs]. He wanted them to be feral, scary and aggressive. I like the curiosity of Danny Huston’s personification of the vampire, the way he looks at the humans. We are food but it was also something he was studying. You’ve been a vampire for such a long time that he didn’t remember humanity in some ways. I like the idea of humans being chased for something that is pure evil. We are not to fall in love with them as Winona Ryder falls in love by Gary Oldman in Dracula. But they are very different kind of movies, different genres or different ways to look at it.
How do you deal with rumours?
95 percent of them are false and I just laugh about them. It’s funny how they connect you to everyone in the room. They called me a Hollywood cad. I think it’s fantastic, having only been in two real relationships in my life.
Are you surprised that you’d be called a Hollywood cad?
No it doesn’t surprise me because they want to make a story out of anything, really. It’s a slow news day I guess. I think that’s just the bread and butter of a lot of magazines these days. They sensationalise everything because they don’t have a story. They’ll write whatever they can get their hands on it. I think the more you stay out of the spotlight the more believable you are as an actor. You don’t want anyone knowing about your life anyway.
Did it appeal to you that this movie was not a genre piece but had space for characters to explore different things?
Honestly, a vampire film wasn’t at the top of my list. It was because of the people involved and the script. I thought it was something that was really elevated. My favourite scary movies have always been films like Alien and Jaws, films that have good acting and an interesting visual and are suspenseful at the same time. Not necessarily just gory. And this film, even though it has an amazing amount of blood in it, is suspenseful.
You don’t really like scary movies?
I guess it depends on the scary movie. I don’t like a lot of the scary movies that are made today because they’re blood baths. I don’t think there’s a lot of art that goes into it. I think what’s great is a good scary movie that has a story to it. The way it folds itself out. And you have room in supernatural movies to create visuals that you couldn’t create in other types of movies. You can bring people to a world that you couldn’t realistically otherwise.
You mentioned the intensity of Gary Oldman’s performance in Dracula. Is that something you aspire to?
I want to grow constantly. I think people have more potential than they give themselves credit for – in this industry specially. When you work with great directors, you can really throw yourself to them and they can find a way to work with you. For a long time I was completely terrified to look like an idiot on the screen. Now I’m becoming less and less worried about looking like an idiot and more and more worried of not fully embodying every emotional state the character has to have. I think I’m driven by fear. I’m trying to pick directors that I really feel comfortable with. In the past, I was much more interested in how the role was.
www.firstmoviemag.com