Both darkly handsome and naturally talented, Josh Hartnett had the good fortune to begin his film career starring in not one, but two high-profile horror films blessed with the moniker of Miramax's Dimension Films and the golden touch of screenwriter Kevin Williamson. With an undeniable screen appeal and a considerable acting ability, Hartnett has quickly risen to become one of Hollywood's most well regarded young talents.

Raised in St. Paul, Minnesota, Hartnett's love of acting first drew him to local stage productions while he was still in high school. Shortly after graduating, he made his way to New York where he took part in the acting program at SUNY. Following work in commercials, Hartnett's first major role was that of Robert Pastorelli's troubled son on the CBS drama series Cracker.

The show lasted less than a season, but six months after its cancellation, Hartnett was seen on the big screen in his first starring role in Halloween: H20 in the crucial part of Scream Queen Jamie Lee Curtis' son John. Co-starring Dawson's Creek's Michelle Williams, the film rode the popularity of the Halloween franchise to a strong box office.

Hartnett followed up his notable debut with a memorable performance as Zeke, a slacker teen who fights off a body-snatching invasion in The Faculty. But before Hartnett could be branded a "Scream King," he smartly sought to diversify his choices by accepting a wide range of roles in a variety of different films.

Hartnett won good reviews for his memorable performance as cocky doper jock Trip Fontaine in Sofia Coppola's The Virgin Suicides with Kirsten Dunst, a film that opened at the Cannes Film Festival in 1999. He also recently starred opposite Leelee Sobieski and Chris Klein in the tearjerker Here on Earth, a film a small-town girl torn between her townie boyfriend and prep school stud.

Some of Hartnett's upcoming projects include the small independent features Blow Dry with Alan Rickman, Natasha Richardson, and Rachel Griffiths; O with Mekhi Phifer and Julia Stiles, and Ridley Scott's Black Hawk Down, a film based on the best-selling true-life account of an American Special Operations unit that is sent to Somalia with tragic results.