Josh Hartnett too busy to get back to Minnesota much
Pioneer Press
Article Launched: 07/05/2007 12:01:00 AM CDT
"How's Minnesota?" was the first question Josh Hartnett asked in an interview last week to promote his upcoming film, "Resurrecting the Champ."
It will be a while before he gets to find out in person.
Hartnett hasn't been on screens much lately, but he has been busy, nonetheless, making "Resurrecting," as well as a drama with David Bowie called "August" and "30 Days of Night," a movie so eagerly anticipated by fanboys that the Internet is crammed with Web sites obsessing about its poster (take a look atwww.30daysofnight.com). Based on a graphic novel, it's about an Alaska town overrun by vampires.
"Actually, I've just had some time home," says the native of St. Paul. "After '30 Days,' I took three months off, and my folks come out here (to New York, where he also has a place) a lot." But he's back to work now, and it will send him into the unknown: not only because it's in Hong Kong, but because he expects working with director Anh Hung Tran on "I Come With the Rain" to be a challenge.
Hartnett talks about what a thrill it can be to get lost in the world of a cinematic genius, a category he apparently puts Tran ("The Scent of Green Papaya") in. "I think I'm about to enter into one of those situations," he says. "He seems to be a very fluid filmmaker. He watches ideas grow or shrivel, and then moves on to other things. We've scheduled a lot of time for the film and we really don't need it, so I'm guessing we'll be doing
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a lot of experimenting."
A mystery about an American cop who gets lost in Hong Kong, "Rain" is scheduled for release next year, as is "August." By the time those movies are in theaters, Hartnett is hoping to have shot a bio-pic about tragic trumpeter Chet Baker, another project that's likely to keep him far from home.
- Chris Hewitt
