Josh Hartnett says he regrets turning down the Batman movie role in the Christopher Nolan remake.
Every actor has regrets, even Will Smith revealed he was upset that he passed on ‘The Matrix’. But, in a recent interview with Playboy, Josh Hartnett revealed he is still upset that he passed on the role that was later given to Christian Bale.
According to the Playboy Interview, Josh Hartnett was offered the role of Batman from Christopher Nolan in his superhero reboot but, Josh Hartnett declined.
“I’ve definitely said no to some of the wrong people,” Hartnett told Playboy magazine. “I learned my lesson when Christopher Nolan and I talked about Batman. I decided it wasn’t for me. Then he didn’t want to put me in ‘The Prestige.’ They not only hired their Batman for it, they also hired my girlfriend (Scarlett Johansson) at the time.”
Josh Hartnett explained that he didn’t reject the role because of any problems with Christopher Nolan, but that his decision was due to being boxed in as only a blockbuster star.
“I was so focused on not being pigeonholed and so scared of being considered only one thing as an actor,” Hartnett said. “Watching Christian Bale go on to do so many other things has been just awesome. I mean, he’s been able to overcome that. Why couldn’t I see that at the time?”
Nowadays, Josh Hartnett’s acting career is laughable in comparison to Christian Bale. Hartnett stars in Showtime’s ‘Penny Dreadful’ and his biggest movie roles came nearly two decades ago. But, considering how ‘The Dark Knight Trilogy’ made $2 billion it is easy to look back at the franchise with regrets.
“I know now that I wouldn’t turn something down just because it’s a superhero role,” he said.
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