Inside Josh Hartnett's Relationship With Tamsin Egerton
Back at the turn of the century, Josh Hartnett was being tipped as the next teen heartthrob to become a bankable Hollywood leading man à la Leonardo DiCaprio, Johnny Depp, and Mark Wahlberg. He'd previously impressed in "The Faculty," "Halloween H20," and "The Virgin Suicides." A starring role in "Pearl Harbor" looked set to send his career stratospheric.
Of course, it didn't work out like that, and after the war epic bombed with critics and audiences alike, Hartnett's career took a significant downturn. So much so that by the mid-'10s, he was a "whatever happened to" feature regular. However, thanks to "Penny Dreadful" and a series of acclaimed indie films, the former pin-up has gradually achieved a new status as a dependable character actor.
Hartnett has been supported throughout this career turnaround by a fellow thespian, "St. Trinian's" and "Love, Rosie" star Tamsin Egerton. But despite their combined star power, you very rarely see the loved-up couple in the press. In fact, their romance has been shrouded in secrecy from the moment they first got together in 2013. But here's a look at what we do know about the mysterious pair.
They met on a troubled film shoot
Josh Hartnett and Tamsin Egerton's paths first crossed when they signed up to appear in a continent-spanning romance directed by two-time Oscar nominee Roland Joffé. The former pulled double duty as a brain-dead marine biologist in the 21st century and a British India officer in the 18th, while the latter played one of his two love interests.
It's fair to say that the film's transition to the screen wasn't smooth. Neve Campbell pulled out early on to be replaced by Egerton, the shoot was halted when its Australian production company went into liquidation, and the film ended up premiering at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival four years after its launch. And depending on which country you're in, it's known as "Singularity," "Time Traveller," "The Lovers," or "La Prophétie de l'anneau."
The wait didn't prove to be worth it, either. According to IMDb, the movie could only claw back $66,000 of its reported $27 million budget. And the reviews were scathing, with the Los Angeles Times describing it as a "thoroughly unconvincing time-traveling epic costume drama pairing a miscast Josh Hartnett and Bollywood beauty Bipasha Basu." Time Out was even more scathing, with critic David Erhlich writing, "As one of the film's many forgettable characters so eloquently puts it, 'This stinks worse than an oyster's fart.'"
Josh Hartnett has no interest in sharing their life on social media
Don't expect to see Josh Hartnett engaging in a Twitter beef or joining in with the latest craze on TikTok. The Minnesota native has next to no interest in sharing anything on social media, as he explained to USA Today in 2015 while promoting the western crime drama, "Wild Horses."
"I purposefully didn't want people to know too much about my personal life because I think a lot of people give it away for free. I think if you spend too much time courting people's attention into your personal life, you lose your ownership of it. That's why I make sure my life is my own. I was not a dumb kid. I was a little bit wary of this business. I saw what it could do to people pretty quickly."
Hartnett's long-term partner, Tamsin Egerton, hasn't put quite the same blanket ban on all things social media. At the time of this writing, the "Chalet Girl" actor has amassed over 35,000 followers on her own Instagram account. But unsurprisingly, there aren't many candid selfies with her partner on there. In fact, the only pictures featuring Hartnett appear to be those which have been taken by official photographers on the red carpet.
Josh Hartnett cites his relationship as one of his proudest achievements
A string of box office hits. Working with directors such as Sofia Coppola, Ridley Scott, and Brian De Palma. Being named by PETA as the World's Sexiest Vegetarian. Josh Hartnett has plenty of things in his career to be appreciative of. But when asked about what he believes to be his proudest achievement by Mr Porter in 2021, the "40 Days and 40 Nights" star had other things in mind.
"The thing I am most proud of is that I'm a father of three and I have a good relationship with my partner and a great family life and I'm still able to do good work and, as I've got older, the characters have become more interesting." Hartnett's answer no doubt melted the heart of partner Tamsin Egerton and his many admirers. But he wasn't done there.
The "Halloween H20" star also expressed how thankful he is for not succumbing to the usual pitfalls of Tinseltown: "A lot of people get caught in that trap, but I feel very strongly about friends I've known for a long time and my family. I wanted to make sure I wasn't losing those relationships. Those people make me who I am. I put those concerns ahead of chasing a Hollywood dream."
They moved to Southeast England for family reasons
You wouldn't expect to find a former Hollywood heartthrob settling down in the leafy suburbs of Southeast England, but that's exactly where Josh Hartnett has called home in recent years, as he explained to The Guardian in 2020. Yes, the star of blockbusters "Pearl Harbor" and "Black Hawk Down" relocated to Surrey alongside partner Tamsin Egerton in order to be closer to her mom and dad.
The "Grand Piano" star has always had a strong bond with her folks, who she discussed in a 2011 interview with The Independent: "My parents are very different people, which I think has made me a rounded person. My mum is a bit unconventional, she's outdoorsy and has more of an emotional intelligence whereas my dad is pragmatic, he's a businessman."
Of course, Hartnett isn't exactly a stranger to the English way of life. In 2001, he tried but hopelessly failed to adopt a West Yorkshire accent while filming in the county for the hairdressing dramedy, "Blow Dry."
Josh Hartnett once served as Tamsin Egerton's accent tutor
The film that brought Josh Hartnett and Tamsin Egerton together may have flopped hard — but that didn't stop the pair from once again mixing business with pleasure when the latter bagged a role in "Love, Rosie," the 2014 adaptation of Cecelia Ahern's novel also known as "Where Rainbows End."
Although the teen romance was filmed in Toronto and Dublin and largely set in an unidentified English city, Egerton was required to adopt an all-American accent to play Sam Claflin's ex-girlfriend, Sally. Rather handily, the actor could call on someone very close to help her nail that authentic Stateside twang.
In 2014, she told The Telegraph, "My boyfriend's American so that helped and I feel I can genuinely do the accent now." The boyfriend Egerton was referring to was, of course, Hartnett, who she'd been seeing for about a year at that point. But it turns out that her fellow actor doesn't pull any punches when it comes to giving feedback, as she added, "He is a harsh critic, so he'll tell me quite quickly if I've got it wrong."
They kept the birth of their third child a secret from the public for two years
Josh Hartnett and Tamsin Egerton certainly don't appear to believe in grand announcements when it comes to their ever-growing family. In fact, it took two years for either of the pair to officially acknowledge the birth of their third child in public!
In his 2021 interview with Mr Porter, Hartnett casually mentioned that he was now a father of three, with the men's fashion bible adding that the previously unknown tot was born at the "end of 2019." And this isn't the first time that the "Hollywood Homicide" star and his partner have kept mum about their offspring.
According to People, Egerton posted an Instagram story in 2017 in which she mentioned that she was nursing to honor World Breastfeeding Week. And shortly after, the "Driving Lessons" star was pictured walking alongside her partner with two kids. Egerton had previously hinted that she was pregnant on the red carpet of the Academy Awards, but neither she nor Hartnett had confirmed the news. A representative for the enigmatic couple had officially disclosed the birth of their first child, a daughter, two years previously. But as with her two siblings, her name remains a secret.
Tamsin Egerton will often borrow from Josh Hartnett's wardrobe
Tamsin Egerton appears to be a keen follower of fashion. She's turned heads at the likes of the British Fashion Awards and London Fashion Week and she's a regular face in style bibles such as Vogue. But it turns out that the "Keeping Mum" star can't take all the credit for her immaculate sense of style.
When asked to describe her look by Marie Claire in 2015, Egerton replied, "It's a little bit all over the place. I wear my boyfriend's clothes. He has an amazing array of cashmere jumpers, which I steal a lot. His Saint Laurent one shrunk in the wash and now fits me perfectly. He said, 'That was my favorite jumper, now it's your favorite jumper.'"
Of course, Josh Hartnett is no stranger to the world of high fashion, either. He's appeared in ads for Giorgio Armani and Marc O'Polo, attended New York Fashion Week, and posed for celebrated portrait photographer Mario Testino wearing lipstick and false eyelashes.
They delayed their wedding to focus on raising their kids
Josh Hartnett and Tamsin Egerton may have been together since 2013, but the glamorous couple took awhile to put a ring on it.
In 2018, Egerton told The Sun, "Marriage is something that's going to happen, but we're focusing on children at the moment." "The Lovers" stars first became parents in 2015 before adding to their brood two years later. And since the actor's chat with the British tabloid, the couple has welcomed a third child into the world.
Hartnett had previously shown little signs of settling down, having developed a reputation as something of a playboy. Indeed, Mischa Barton, Kirsten Dunst, and Abbie Cornish were just a few of the actors he was linked with on either side of his two-year relationship with Scarlett Johansson. But in a 2011 chat with the Daily Record, the "Wicker Park" actor insisted that the truth was much less exciting: "95 percent of the rumors are false and I just laugh. It's funny how they connect you to everyone in the room. They called me a Hollywood cad. I think it's fantastic, having been in two real relationships in my life."
Tamsin Egerton didn't initially plan on settling down so quickly
Tamsin Egerton sure seemed loved-up when she was asked by the Daily Mail about her then-budding relationship with Josh Hartnett in 2014. "Yes, my love life is great," the "Camelot" actor enthused, while also remarking that she was "absolutely loving life," having just returned from an Italian vacation with her "The Lovers" co-star.
However, the prospect of settling down with the Hollywood heartthrob hadn't even appeared to cross Egerton's mind at that time. "Not yet ... I'm 25! I want to stay traveling and working as much as possible," she stated on the subject of raising a family. Of course, within a year, the Brit had given birth to her and Hartnett's first child.
Although Egerton has kept relatively quiet about becoming a parent, her partner has been uncharacteristically talkative on the subject. In 2016, he told "Live with Kelly and Michael" (via People), "It's really terrifying but it's beautiful. I love it more than anything. I wish I would have started earlier. But I'm so glad that she is the one I'm raising."
Parenthood has changed their lives
Alongside his partner Tamsin Egerton, Josh Hartnett has made a concerted effort not to reveal any details whatsoever about their three kids to the press. However, that doesn't mean the "30 Days of Night" star is entirely averse to parenting talk.
During his 2016 chat on "Live with Kelly and Michael" (via Us Weekly), the actor revealed just how much his priorities and perspectives have changed since the birth of his daughter: "I used to be a little bit more precious about what I was choosing to work on because I was just so worried about how, like, my career was going to come across and stuff like that. And now with her, I'm like, 'I just got to work. I gotta make money.'"
Hartnett also happily discussed his three children during his 2021 chat with Mr Porter, and how he and Egerton have coped looking after them during the COVID-19 pandemic: "We've been trying to keep them occupied as best we can, but [deep breath here] it's a lot of work and it takes both of us all day and by the end of it all we want to do is reach for a bottle of wine and go to sleep."
Tamsin Egerton and Josh Hartnett finally got married
It may have taken nearly a decade and three children together, but in 2021, Josh Hartnett and Tamsin Egerton finally decided to get hitched. Of course, unsurprisingly for such a private couple, they didn't let anyone but their nearest and dearest know. In fact, it took five months for news of their nuptials to get out to the press.
Yes, the Hollywood couple said "I do" at The Old Marylebone Town Hall in London in November 2021, specifically in the Soho room, which can only seat 13 individuals maximum. And the intimate, hush-hush ceremony was only reported on in March 2022!
A pal of the happy couple told The Sun why they chose to shun the limelight on their big day: "They're as smitten as ever and wanted to make it official in a low-key affair. It was a classy ceremony with only a handful of close family and friends. They're really happy living a low-key life away from showbiz parties and red carpets, so [they] are happy to fly under the radar."
Josh Hartnett went indie for his family
From "Black Hawk Down" and "Pearl Harbor" to "The Faculty" and "40 Days and 40 Nights," you couldn't go to the multiplex in the early '00s without seeing Josh Hartnett's handsome face on the screen. But you have to go as far back as the 2007 horror "30 Days of Night" for the last time one of his movies got such a wide release.
However, this isn't a case of Hartnett being snubbed by blockbuster casting agents. In fact, it's the one-time pin-up himself who's been doing the snubbing as he explained to Yahoo! Entertainment in 2021: "I didn't really take any major hiatuses that were planned, I just had kids. I started doing smaller films, [since] the films didn't take me away from the kids very often."
And Hartnett has no regrets about making wife Tamsin Egerton and their three children his main focus, telling Australian breakfast TV show "Sunrise" (via the Daily Mail) that same year, "It was the best thing for my mental health and my career to keep Hollywood at bay. ... Luckily, I think I hit onto it early on in my life. 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."