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Josh Hartnett: 'I should have signed on to play Batman'

Written by . Published: April 17 2015

Movie star Josh Hartnett regrets turning down the chance to play Batman in director Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight trilogy because he could now be having the career Christian Bale is enjoying.


Hartnett was close to retreating from Hollywood and returning to his native Minnesota when he agreed to sit down and chat to Nolan about his Batman project and now he realizes he should have taken the role, because snubbing the revered filmmaker was a very bad idea.


The actor tells the new issue of Playboy, "I’ve definitely said no to some of the wrong people. People don’t like being told no. I learned my lesson when Christopher Nolan and I talked about Batman. I decided it wasn’t for me. Then he didn’t want to put me in (2006 film) The Prestige.


"That’s when I realized relationships were formed in the fire of that first Batman film and I should have been part of the relationship with this guy Nolan, who I felt was incredibly cool and very talented.


"I was so focused on not being pigeonholed and so scared of being considered only one thing as an actor. I should have thought, 'Well, then, work harder, man!'


"Watching Christian Bale go on to do so many other things has been just awesome. I mean, he’s been able to overcome that. Why couldn’t I see that at the time?"

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