Josh Hartnett claims to stepping away from Hollywood helped his mental health: Why do so many stars leave Hollywood?
by Jaskiran Kaur | Thu, 09 Dec 2021 18:05:10 GMT
Image Source: Yahoo

Living a life of success and stardom to enjoy celebrity status is the dream of many, but everything that shines is not gold. Being a famous actor has its pros, but if things get out of control, the same career ends in heartbreak, mental stress, and illness.

And who better to explain the side-effects of fame than Josh Hartnett, who quit his blooming career in Hollywood and has never looked back since then with the same eyes? The actor said that his first and foremost interest in life is to put himself first, and retiring from the life of fame for some time was the best decision that he took for his mental health. 

In a rare media appearance with Sunrise this Wednesday on December 8, the celeb said that his decision to keep "Hollywood at bay" has served him well in life, but it was a tough lesson to learn. In his interview, the star, aged 43, said, “Luckily, I think I hit onto it early on in my life.” He also accepted that getting to be an actor was a privilege he received. “It’s about creating a good home life and being able to do things that are wild and wonderful like making films, which is such a privilege.”

The star has done admirable work in Hollywood around the 1990s and is famous for Saving Private Ryan, Pearl Harbor, 40 Days and 40 Nights, and The Virgin Suicides. Still, major success does not mean you get to do everything you want to do, and Hartnett himself had to decline some major acting proposals. He revealed, “Unfortunately, I was going to do Brokeback Mountain, and I had a contract with Black Dahlia that I had to film, so I had to drop out of it.” 

Through his majorly successful roles, the star instantly became a sensation, which had a negative influence on him due to the spontaneity of his fame. The actor shared with Details magazine, “I couldn’t really go anywhere. I didn’t feel comfortable in my own skin. I was alone. I didn’t trust anyone. I’m still finding my way through all that.”

Continuing to reveal his experience with fame, he said, “Within two weeks. I didn’t have to struggle as an actor, although I think I’ve made up for it now. I still get offered film and TV roles, luckily, but years ago, if I saw a role I wanted, there was a good chance I could grab it. When I see a role now, I’ve got to fight for it. It’s not bad. It’s actually more rewarding. Depressing when something doesn’t go your way, but only for a minute.”

The actor has also done great work on television and starred as the lead man in Penny Dreadful by portraying Ethan Chandler. The show had a run time from 2014 to 2016, and now the star will again come back to work in Hollywood. The Paradise Lost alum shared with Yahoo earlier this year in May, “I didn’t really take any major hiatuses that were planned. I just had kids. I started doing smaller films, the films didn’t take me away from the kids very often.”

Needless to say, the actor did evolve his relationship with acting and Hollywood over time. He revealed, “I’m acting a lot right now. I have taken time off to start writing scripts. I’ve written quite a few and had a couple sold, but nothing actually got made, and that was frustrating.”

 Still, he is lucky to have found the balance he craved in his personal and public life. He revealed, “But right now I’m getting a lot of good offers, working with a lot of cool people … There’s a lot of good stuff coming, so I can’t turn down great roles. So my relationship is just if there are interesting roles that are going to be challenging and get out there and people are going to see them, then I’m all for it.”

But unlike Josh Hartnett, so many other actors did not enjoy the fame that was dealt with them by Hollywood. 

Rick Moranis

The actor received unmatched fame when she scored the Ghostbuster series in the 1980s, followed by Little Shop of Horrors. But for Rick Moranis, his children came before acting after his wife's death in 1991. He shared, "I'm a single parent, and I just found that it was too difficult to manage to raise my kids and to do the traveling involved in making movies. So I took a little bit of a break. And the little bit of a break turned into a longer break, and then I found that I really didn't miss it." The actor has since then been starring in voice acting roles. 

Cameron Diaz

Cameron Diaz chose to step away from acting after two decades of a successful career; Credits: DNA India

Cameron Diaz ruled the cinema screens for two decades and led a very satisfying acting career that earned her money and fame. Starting her work with The Mask in 1994, the actress followed up with There's Something About Mary, Being John Malkovich, Gangs of New York, and many more admirable works. 

Unluckily, she found that she was not having the best of time and told Gwyneth Paltrow, "I just went, 'I can't really say who I am to myself,' which is a hard thing to face up to. I felt the need to make myself whole." 

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