Performer
A performer whose catalogue work here is strong, with the fuller case still to be made.
Nutevio rank
#1300
of 909177 performers
Top 1%
Josh Hartnett represents the rare performer whose career became more ambitious with every decade — 28 years in, and Josh is still choosing the harder script.
The essay
Our editors on the work, the patterns and the reason this body of work holds together.
Josh Hartnett appears in 26 films in the Nutevio catalogue, and none of them would work the same way without Josh. Oppenheimer is the clearest case: a film rated 9.1 by our editors, where the performance carries weight the script only implies.
The recognisable elements are versatility, transformation, quiet performance. Watch two of these films back to back and the method separates from the material — the same instrument, tuned differently for mystery, thriller, action. It is a style built on what is withheld as much as what is played.
Working with Michael Showalter, James Madigan, M. Night Shyamalan and others, Josh Hartnett helped set a standard other performers now audition against. Awards bodies have been slower than the work, which is usually the sign of a career built on choices rather than campaigns.
Oppenheimer (2023) as Ernest Lawrence · Oppenheimer (2023) as Ernest Lawrence · Wrath of Man (2021) as Boy Sweat Dave
Career snapshot
Ranked #1300 of 909177 performers tracked in the Nutevio library.
Films in Nutevio
26
1998–2026
Career length
28 yrs
Measured across our catalogue
Academy Awards
—
Unknown
Oscar nominations
—
Unknown
Highest Nutevio score
9.1
Oppenheimer
Average Nutevio score
6.3
Across catalogue work
Highest IMDb rating
8.3
Oppenheimer
Most frequent director
Christopher Nolan
2 films together
Longest collaboration
2×
With Christopher Nolan
Most common genre
Thriller
17 titles
Average runtime
1h 59m
Across catalogue work
Golden Globe wins
—
Unknown
Nutevio metric
Ten weighted categories, applied identically to everyone we cover.
Nutevio Performer Score
6.8
out of 10
A performer whose catalogue work here is strong, with the fuller case still to be made.
Nutevio metric
Cultural impact and legacy, measured separately from craft — how far the work travelled once it left the cinema.
Nutevio Influence Score
6.6
out of 10
A quieter influence — felt inside the films rather than across the industry.
How far the work travelled past the people who saw it first.
What survives once the release-week conversation has burned off.
Institutional acknowledgement, weighted but never decisive.
Years of chosen, relevant work rather than years merely employed.
Statuettes, read as evidence rather than verdict.
Roles named without needing the film named alongside them.
Directors who wrote parts because this performer existed.
The reading other performers now have to answer.
Actor DNA
A fingerprint derived from the roles themselves — register, range and the kind of film they carry.
The shape of a career
Every performance plotted in time. Hover a point to read the title behind it.
Peak years
Where the scores, the awards and the sheer volume of work agree with each other.
Best decade
2000s
6.7 average MV
The 2000s are where the work and the material meet. 30 Days of Night, Lucky Number Slevin, Sin City — the run our editors reach for first when the argument is about range rather than fame.
Highest average Nutevio score
2000s
6.7
Across 10 catalogue films in this decade, our scores never drop below the level a career is judged on.
Highest average IMDb rating
2000s
6.7
The public agrees most strongly about this stretch — useful context, and occasionally a decade behind our own reading.
Most awarded era
2020s
7 Academy Awards
Statuettes for the films themselves, which is the honest way to read an ensemble career. Verity, Fight or Flight, Trap.
Most productive era
2020s
11 films
The busiest stretch of the catalogue — volume that reads as appetite rather than availability.
Range, mapped
Genres down the side, decades across the top. Warmer cells mean stronger titles.
| Genre | 1990s | 2000s | 2010s | 2020s |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Drama | — | 6.76 films | 5.73 films | 7.25 films |
| Action | — | 6.32 films | 5.81 film | 6.14 films |
| Thriller | 6.21 film | 6.75 films | 5.52 films | 5.99 films |
| Comedy | — | 5.62 films | — | 6.23 films |
| Crime | — | 7.52 films | 5.31 film | 6.44 films |
| Romance | — | 6.63 films | 6.11 film | — |
| Horror | 6.52 films | 6.41 film | — | 6.21 film |
Chronology
Firsts and peaks
The turning points, in the order they happened.
First film in Nutevio
1998Halloween H20: 20 Years Later
Where our catalogue meets this career, as John.
First Nutevio masterpiece · Highest rated performance · Career peak
2023Oppenheimer
The first film here to clear 9.0 on our scale — a threshold fewer than one film in ten reaches. 9.1 on the Nutevio scale, the top of the catalogue for this performer. Weighing billing against the film's own quality, this is the point where everything aligned at once.
Most recent film
2026Verity
The current state of the argument, as Jeremy Crawford.
Our order
Every performance in the catalogue, ordered by Nutevio Score.
Every title
Filter by genre or decade, and compare any two titles side by side.
26 of 26 films
as Ernest Lawrence
Directed by Christopher Nolan
as Ernest Lawrence
Directed by Christopher Nolan
as Slevin
Directed by Paul McGuigan
as SSG Matthew Eversmann
Directed by Ridley Scott
as Boy Sweat Dave
Directed by Guy Ritchie
From the library
Every movie and TV credit stored for this name in the Nutevio catalogue — filter by media, role or sort by rating.
Showing 24 of 28 titles · 29 total credits · active 1998–2026
Verity
2026 · Jeremy Crawford
Below
2026 · TV · Calvin Penney · Executive Producer
Fight or Flight
2025 · Lucas Reyes
Trap
2024 · Cooper
Oppenheimer
2023 · Ernest Lawrence
Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre
2023 · Danny Francesco
Die Hart
2023 · Josh
The Bear
2022 · TV · Frank
Ida Red
2021 · Wyatt Walker
Wrath of Man
2021 · Boy Sweat Dave
Target Number One
2020 · Victor Malarek
Valley of the Gods
2020 · John Ecas
Inherit the Viper
2019 · Kip Conley
The Ottoman Lieutenant
2017 · Jude Gresham
Penny Dreadful
2014 · TV · Ethan Chandler
Bunraku
2010 · The Drifter
30 Days of Night
2007 · Eben Oleson
Lucky Number Slevin
2006 · Slevin
Sin City
2005 · The Man
Wicker Park
2004 · Matthew
Hollywood Homicide
2003 · Det. K.C. Calden
Pearl Harbor
2001 · Danny Walker
Black Hawk Down
2001 · SSG Matthew Eversmann
Blow Dry
2001 · Brian Allen
The defining work
#1
Ernest Lawrence
Oppenheimer (2023)
Performance score8.9
The performance the rest of the career is read through. Ernest Lawrence gives Josh Hartnett a structure to work against, and the film hands over its centre of gravity without hesitation.
View movie#2
Ernest Lawrence
Oppenheimer (2023)
Performance score8.2
Oppenheimer asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Ernest Lawrence is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movie#3
Slevin
Lucky Number Slevin (2006)
Performance score8.1
Lucky Number Slevin asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Slevin is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movie#4
SSG Matthew Eversmann
Black Hawk Down (2001)
Performance score8.1
Black Hawk Down asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. SSG Matthew Eversmann is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movieStart here
A guided path through the work, ordered so each film explains the next.
Best entry point
as Ernest Lawrence
Start here. Oppenheimer is the clearest statement of what Josh Hartnett does — accessible, 180 minutes, and rated 9.1 by our editors. No context required.
Our editors order this path by accessibility first and chronology second. You meet Josh at the most legible performance, then move forward in time so each film reads as a response to the one before it rather than a repetition of it.
Black Hawk Down (2001)
Keeps the history register of Oppenheimer but asks for a colder reading of it.
Lucky Number Slevin (2006)
A deliberate change of key after Black Hawk Down — same instrument, unfamiliar tuning, and the reason range gets mentioned.
Wrath of Man (2021)
Keeps the crime register of Lucky Number Slevin but asks for a colder reading of it.
Oppenheimer (2023)
Keeps the drama register of Wrath of Man but asks for a colder reading of it.
Company kept
The directors and performers this career keeps returning to.
Paul McGuigan
Director
2 films together
Notably Lucky Number Slevin
Guy Ritchie
Director
2 films together
Notably Wrath of Man
Christopher Nolan
Director
2 films together
Notably Oppenheimer
Robert Rodriguez
Director
1 film together
Notably The Faculty
Steve Miner
Director
1 film together
Notably Halloween H20: 20 Years Later
Mark Piznarski
Director
1 film together
Notably Here on Earth
Sofia Coppola
Director
1 film together
Notably The Virgin Suicides
Paddy Breathnach
Director
1 film together
Notably Blow Dry
Ridley Scott
Director
1 film together
Notably Black Hawk Down
Michael Bay
Director
1 film together
Notably Pearl Harbor
Ron Shelton
Director
1 film together
Notably Hollywood Homicide
Frank Miller
Director
1 film together
Notably Sin City
David Slade
Director
1 film together
Notably 30 Days of Night
Eric Appel
Director
1 film together
Notably Die Hart
M. Night Shyamalan
Director
1 film together
Notably Trap
James Madigan
Director
1 film together
Notably Fight or Flight
Michael Showalter
Director
1 film together
Notably Verity
Casey Affleck
Actor
1 film together
Notably Oppenheimer
Matt Damon
Actor
1 film together
Notably Oppenheimer
Cillian Murphy
Actor
1 film together
Notably Oppenheimer
David Dastmalchian
Actor
1 film together
Notably Oppenheimer
Florence Pugh
Actor
1 film together
Notably Oppenheimer
Robert Downey Jr.
Actor
1 film together
Notably Oppenheimer
Emily Blunt
Actor
1 film together
Notably Oppenheimer
Rami Malek
Actor
1 film together
Notably Oppenheimer
Kenneth Branagh
Actor
1 film together
Notably Oppenheimer
Benny Safdie
Actor
1 film together
Notably Oppenheimer
Jason Clarke
Actor
1 film together
Notably Oppenheimer
Dylan Arnold
Actor
1 film together
Notably Oppenheimer
Behind the camera
Who casts this performer, how often, and what the pairing produces.
Christopher Nolan
Director
2 films together · 8.6 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 2 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
OppenheimerPaul McGuigan
Director
2 films together · 7.2 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 2 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
Lucky Number SlevinGuy Ritchie
Director
2 films together · 7.0 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 2 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
Wrath of ManFrank Miller
Director
1 film together · 7.6 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Sin CityRidley Scott
Director
1 film together · 7.5 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Black Hawk DownSofia Coppola
Director
1 film together · 7.1 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The Virgin SuicidesMichael Bay
Director
1 film together · 7.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Pearl HarborRobert Rodriguez
Director
1 film together · 6.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The FacultyDavid Slade
Director
1 film together · 6.4 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
30 Days of NightJames Madigan
Director
1 film together · 6.3 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Fight or FlightM. Night Shyamalan
Director
1 film together · 6.2 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
TrapSteve Miner
Director
1 film together · 6.2 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Halloween H20: 20 Years LaterEric Appel
Director
1 film together · 5.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Die HartPaddy Breathnach
Director
1 film together · 5.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Blow DryMark Piznarski
Director
1 film together · 5.8 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Here on EarthRon Shelton
Director
1 film together · 5.2 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Hollywood HomicideMichael Showalter
Director
1 film together · 0.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
VeritySix degrees
Follow the thread outward — director, film, co-star, and the film after that.
Recognition
1 win
1 win · latest 2024
Oppenheimer
Categories of our own
Six editorial categories we apply to every performer we cover.
Most rewatchable
Oppenheimer
as Ernest Lawrence
The one that survives a fourth viewing. Nothing in the performance depends on surprise, which is why it keeps paying out.
Most emotional performance
Oppenheimer
as Ernest Lawrence
Grief played at conversational volume. The film never asks the audience to cry; the performance simply makes it difficult not to.
Most influential performance
Oppenheimer
as Ernest Lawrence
You can hear this reading in other actors' auditions a decade later — the surest measure of influence there is.
Best ensemble performance
Sin City
as The Man
Work that makes everyone else in the frame better without ever pulling the camera towards itself.
Career defining performance
Oppenheimer
as Ernest Lawrence
If the career had to be argued in a single scene, our editors would pick one from this film and rest the case.
In their films' words
“You can build a whole film around a performer who knows when not to speak. Josh Hartnett has known it for a long time.”
“Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds.”
“They won't fear it until they understand it. And they won't understand it until they've used it.”
Head to head
Put two careers on the same scale and see where the argument actually sits.
| Nutevio Performer Score | 8.1 | 8.9 |
|---|---|---|
| Career ranking | #361 of 681 | #2 of 681 |
| Awards on file | Unknown | 4 recorded |
| Oscar wins | Unknown | 2 |
| Oscar nominations | Unknown | 6 |
| Average Nutevio score | 9.1 | 9.3 |
| Genres | Drama, History, Thriller | Sci-Fi, Adventure, Drama, Thriller |
| Directors | Christopher Nolan | Christopher Nolan |
| Performance DNA | Emotional range, Quiet performance, Drama | Transformation, Screen presence, Rewatchability |
| Career timeline | 2023–2023 | 2006–2014 |
| Most iconic role | Ernest Lawrence — Oppenheimer | Professor Brand — Interstellar |
| Most rewatchable film | Oppenheimer | The Dark Knight |
| Filmography | 1 catalogue film | 4 catalogue films |
Films together
Nothing in common in the library yet.
Shared directors
Christopher Nolan
Shared collections
Christopher Nolan Movies Ranked, Thriller Movies, Drama Movies
Collaborators in common
Christopher Nolan · Casey Affleck · Matt Damon · Cillian Murphy
Michael Caine edges ahead here — a higher floor across a comparable body of work.
Ours alone
Recognitions handed out by this desk, on criteria no awards body uses.
Career Achievement
Awarded
28 years of relevant work — not merely a long career, but a long career of choices.
Editor's Icon
Awarded
Named by our desk for a body of work we return to when we need to explain what screen acting is for.
Modern Classic Performer
Awarded
Defining performances delivered inside the last twenty-five years, in films already being taught rather than merely remembered.
Thriller Legend
Awarded
17 catalogue titles in thriller, each one a reference point for the films that followed.
Our desk
Best ending, best opening, best twist and the rest — categories we apply to everyone we cover.
Best ending
Oppenheimer
as Ernest Lawrence
The last five minutes reorganise everything before them, and hold up when you already know what's coming.
Best opening
Oppenheimer
as Ernest Lawrence
A first sequence that states the rules of the film without explaining a single one of them.
Most emotional
Oppenheimer
as Ernest Lawrence
The film where the technique steps aside and lets the feeling arrive undefended.
Best twist
Lucky Number Slevin
as Slevin
A reversal earned by information the film gave you and trusted you to misread.
Best visual achievement
Oppenheimer
as Ernest Lawrence
Images that would survive with the sound switched off.
Best action sequence
Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre
as Danny Francesco
Geography, stakes and consequence held in the same frame — spectacle you can follow.
Best dialogue
Oppenheimer
as Ernest Lawrence
Lines written to be spoken, staged so the pauses do half the work.
Most underrated film
Oppenheimer
as Ernest Lawrence
The public vote sits below ours on this one, and the direction is the reason for the gap.
Across the library
Every Nutevio collection this name turns up in, and how high they rank there.
Collection footprint
Appears in 3 Nutevio collections
Keep reading
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Have your say
Community
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Reference
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