Josh Hartnett explains why he chose to go naked in that scary sequence toward the conclusion of Trap. Hartnett portrays Cooper, a father from the suburbs who lives a second life as a serial murderer known as The Butcher, in the thriller that was written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan.
In one final moment, Cooper, who is on the run from the FBI after being discovered, meets his wife (Alison Pill) at home alone. She confesses to the authorities about attending the Lady Raven event, where they set up a trap to capture him.
Cooper removes his shirt before attempting to assassinate Pill’s character, who turns out to have poisoned his piece of pie just in time. Hartnett, 46, decided to go naked at that time.
“I didn’t want to cheat the audience,” he admits. “I wanted it to be as real, terrifying and f—ed up as possible. Knowing that he has OCD and that he dislikes making a mess, I thought it would be fascinating if, throughout the course of this, he simply begins pulling his shirt off and it becomes extremely visceral.”
“Then gouging the guy’s eyes, all that monster stuff, was incredibly essential to me,” says Hartnett, “because I felt like you had to know that this person you’ve been following, who you may be fascinated by, is a genuine monster. I believe it’s vital for the film.”
Cooper, dizzy from the medication, sees dead individuals in the scenario, where he is also repeatedly tased.
“That was the one part we couldn’t be accurate on because, from a physiological standpoint, I don’t think anybody can withstand the amount of tasing that he was getting and still get up,” Hartnett shares.
“But Night wanted to create something that was really jarring and shocking, and have Hayley Mills’ character get the final shot,” the actor goes on. “But, no, I never got tased. I’ve seen footage of individuals getting tased. I would absolutely not want to do it!”
Mills, 78, who starred in the original The Parent Trap, portrays a seasoned FBI profiler who spearheads the attempt to apprehend The Butcher in Trap.
Shyamalan, 53, said of Mills’ hiring at the film’s premiere in New York City on July 24: “We’ve seen the guy hunting a guy in so many movies, so I was thinking, why don’t we have a maternal figure hunting these kinds of men?” Then when Hayley auditioned, I was like, “Wow, she matches the buoyancy of the film, that kind of energy, and that wink in her eye that she’s having fun with this.”
Mills said on the red carpet that she “didn’t expect to ever get a part like this.”
“When it happened, I thought they’d made a mistake!” she told me. “Working with Night was a gift. He is an excellent director. He loves actors. And he writes and knows the characters. He understands their mental process. He understands where they’re coming from, and he knows when you’re not thinking what you should be thinking.
Hartnett describes Mills as “the most gregarious human being on the planet.” He says of his co-star, “She wants to talk about everything.” I adored her. She was there for almost the whole time we were filming. When she was on set, we would simply sit and talk.”
“And my daughters love her work,” says the father of four. “They’d seen Pollyanna and Parent Trap a thousand times, and they came to the set, but for some reason, they didn’t cross paths, and they were furious when they found out they weren’t going to meet her. “We’ll have to meet in London or something.”
What is Josh Hartnett most famous for?
Josh Hartnett is most famous for his rise to fame as a teen idol in the late 1990s and early 2000s. His roles in films like Halloween H20: 20 Years Later, The Faculty, and Pearl Harbor solidified his status as a heartthrob.
However, Hartnett is a versatile actor who has successfully transitioned beyond his teen idol image. 1 He has showcased his acting range in a variety of genres, including drama, action, and thriller. Some of his notable roles include The Virgin Suicides, Black Hawk Down, Sin City, and 30 Days of Night.
