Josh Hartnett departs from heartthrob 'pigeonhole' with 'Oppenheimer,' 'Trap'

Since last year, he has played a key role in the Oscar-sweeping "Oppenheimer," guest-starred in acclaimed TV hits "The Bear" and "Black Mirror," and is now the lead in M. Night Shyamalan's thriller "Trap."

But, the 46-year-old told AFP ahead of Friday's release of "Trap," he never really went away — the industry is finally offering him the "unique" roles he always wanted.

"These directors just now find me interesting," Hartnett said, via Zoom.

"Whereas maybe a few years ago, I was, I don't know, too young to be interesting?" he added, laughing.

"Maybe I hadn't lived enough? I don't know what it was."

In "Trap," Hartnett plays Cooper, a doting father who takes his young teen daughter to a Taylor Swift-esque pop star's concert.

Yet we learn almost immediately that Cooper is a serial killer, and the entire gig is a police sting designed to ensnare him.

"The conceit of this movie, which is so cool, is that we tell you right off the bat he's the bad guy," said Hartnett.

"And yet we need you to... root for him as he gets out of the situation."

The role is the kind of "high-wire act" that has appealed to him ever since Harnett, at the peak of his fame, turned down a chance to play Superman and abruptly left Los Angeles in the 2000s.

He returned to his home state of Minnesota, and later moved to England where he now lives — but never stopped acting.

"I love a high-wire act and I also love the chance that maybe I'm going to fall flat on my face — it gets me excited," said Harnett.

"I feel a yearning to do that sort of work."

'Pearl Harbor' 

"Trap" is a return to the genres that made Hartnett's name.

His first credited film role was "Halloween H20," the 1998 horror sequel starring Jamie Lee Curtis.

Harnett quickly starred in teen thrillers "The Faculty" and "The Virgin Suicides."

He then joined the Hollywood A-list, playing a heroic pilot opposite Ben Affleck in 2001's "Pearl Harbor."

The World War II epic was savaged by critics, but turned a profit despite an eye-watering $140 million budget.

That same year, Hartnett played a special forces soldier in "Black Hawk Down."

But after quitting Los Angeles, sacking his agent and rejecting more generic "hero" characters, big movie roles dried up.

Articles began appearing in the Hollywood press with headlines like "What happened to Josh Hartnett?"

'Not pigeonholed' 

For years, Harnett worked mainly with younger directors, helping them get their movies made, often outside the Hollywood system.

That appears to have finally changed, especially since Christopher Nolan's "Oppenheimer."

"I don't need to help Chris Nolan make his film! But I was able to be a part of a world, and with a director that I think is one of the best working right now," he said.

Harnett played Ernest Lawrence, a respected colleague of Oppenheimer's who fell out with the brilliant physicist over his early Communist leanings and marital infidelities.

Harnett's role in "Trap" is decidedly less morally decent, despite Cooper's deceptive surface appearance as a sweet, loving father.

Research that involved reading books on the psychology of intensely "charming" psychopaths who "hide in plain sight" was fascinating if disturbing, said the actor.

"I was always trying to do things that were outside of the box," said Harnett.

"And now, I guess, I'm not pigeonholed and people are allowing me to play these disparate characters.

"And it's great. I really feel lucky."

RELATED: M. Night Shyamalan praises Josh Hartnett in 'Trap'