Josh Hartnett says he quit Hollywood for sake of his sanity

Josh Hartnett quit Hollywood for the sake of his "sanity".

The 46-year-old actor became one of the most sought-after stars in the movie business in the late 90s and early 2000s — but Josh ultimately decided to step back from Hollywood to focus on independent projects.

Speaking to his O co-star Julia Stiles for Interview magazine, Josh explained: "I never really lived in LA. Even when we were making O, I was in Minnesota, New York, nowhere, because I was living from set to set.

"I drove my car down from Minnesota to shoot O and then drove back after that. But the choice to step back from the industry had more to do with just plain sanity."

Josh ultimately feared that fame and success might've led him to becoming detached from his "community".

The actor also acknowledged that fame didn't give him the "satisfaction" he was seeking at the time.

Josh — who now lives in the UK with his wife Tamsin Egerton — shared: "I wanted to be myself amongst people that I knew, so I was able to revert back to my family and friends in Minnesota.

"Also, after a certain amount of time chasing a goal, I realised that achieving these things wasn't giving me back the satisfaction I hoped it would, so I had to find something else to fill that gap. I felt, and still feel, that community is what fills it.

"Achievement is great in any walk of life. It's a reason to get up in the morning. But the thing that really holds you is your community. I felt that I was kind of rootless at that time, so I wanted to find that community."

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