Josh Hartnett Left Hollywood a Heartthrob. Now He’s back for His Middle-Age Renaissance

Plus: Andrew Garfield casts doubt on Sam Altman’s memory at ‘Artificial’ premiere; Inside the booming business of celebrity audiobook memoirs

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October 6, 2026

If you’re a straight woman or gay man born in the 1980s or early ’90s, I have an important announcement to make: Josh Hartnett is looking good these days. Like, real good. And more importantly, he’s doing good work too. The erstwhile Y2K heartthrob is working with legends like Christopher Nolan, costarring opposite A-listers like Anne Hathaway and Dakota Johnson, and fully enjoying his mid-career renaissance. “I feel way more like an undiscovered talent” than an established star, Hartnett tells VF’s Savannah Walsh in a new interview. “I feel like only now am I getting to work with the people that I want to work with on a level that I want to work with them on.” In other words, don’t expect him to make 41 Days and 41 Nights anytime soon. (That’s for the best, really.) Elsewhere, Chris Murphy watches Luca Guadagnino (possibly) catch Sam Altman in a lie during the premiere of Artificial. Plus, a peek inside the booming business of celebrity audiobook memoirs, and Kara Swisher answers the Proust Questionnaire

HILLARY BUSIS FEATURES EDITOR

Josh Hartnett Left Hollywood a Heartthrob. Now He’s Back for His Middle-Age Renaissance   By Savannah Walsh

He’s starring opposite Anne Hathaway and Dakota Johnson in Verity, and working with Christopher Nolan and Oliver Stone—all part of an era in which Hartnett is finally becoming “the kind of actor that I believe I’ve always wanted to be," as he tells VF. Read more

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MOVIES   At the Artificial Premiere, Andrew Garfield Casts Doubt on Sam Altman’s Memory of Watching Him Film   By Chris Murphy   Luca Guadagnino’s dark horror-comedy about the evolution of AI, starring Andrew Garfield as OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, paints a brilliantly bleak portrait of the industry—and the executive. Read more

HOLLYWOOD   Celebrity Memoirs Are Good. Celebrities Reading Their Own Memoirs Are Better   By Brian Raftery   Inside the booming business of celebrity audiobook memoirs, featuring the producers and directors who helped Lena Dunham, Al Pacino, Laura Dern, and more record their books—even when it got difficult. Read more

PROUST QUESTIONNAIRE   Kara Swisher Answers the Proust Questionnaire   By Kara Swisher   The pioneering tech journalist, podcaster, and Bay Area evangelist has a fondness for poetry and getting the last word. Read more

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Sam Altman Sees the Future. Are We In It? (Part 2) In an exclusive video interview, the OpenAI CEO discusses Donald Trump, the midterms, the real risk of extinction, Xi Jinping’s state visit, self-policing and government regulation, and OpenAI president Greg Brockman’s political donations.

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