Josh Hartnett

Josh Hartnett, born in Saint Paul, Minnesota, grew up juggling a mix of Irish, German, Swedish, and Norwegian roots—yeah, that’s one heck of a heritage stew. His mom, Wendy Anne, and his dad, Daniel Thomas (who managed buildings for a living), watched him graduate from South High in Minneapolis in ’96. Not too long after, he made his way to SUNY Purchase in New York, probably thinking he’d just see where life took him. Turns out, life had some pretty wild plans. By April ’97, he landed his first real acting gig as Michael Fitzgerald in Cracker. Sure, the show didn’t exactly make TV history—it kind of dipped out after a bit—but, hey, a start’s a start. Before all this, Josh was hustling with small-time plays and commercials. You might’ve caught him promoting random stuff on TV back in the day without even realizing it was him. Then, suddenly, the late ’90s hit and Josh just exploded onto the big screen. He took on the lead in Halloween H20: 20 Years Later, which was basically a love letter to slasher fans, and The Faculty, that weird-fun sci-fi horror flick with aliens crawling into teenagers’ heads. Not long after, Pearl Harbor (2001) dropped, and boom—Josh was everywhere. That movie was huge, and not just because of the explosions. So yeah, in just a few years, Josh Hartnett went from high school grad to Hollywood heartthrob, bouncing from midwestern kid to movie star faster than you can say “Minnesota nice.”