Josh Hartnett Learned How to Walk Around in NYC Without Getting Noticed

Josh Hartnett looks pensive as he waits outside Crossroads restaurant after dining with friends on Saturday evening (May 31) in Los Angeles.

The 35-year-old Penny Dreadful star recently opened up about why he took an extended break from Hollywood.

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“For a long time, I didn’t do anything at all,” Josh told Vulture. “I mean, I was directing some music videos and writing a lot, but I just wasn’t interested in the stuff I was being offered in film, and I had a very specific idea of what I wanted to do and accomplish. I wanted to write something�”I’m my own worst critic, but I wanted to. I couldn’t even bring myself to get funding for any of the things I was writing, but that was the idea�”to control a project. Not having control over the entire thing�”you’re free within the context, then you give it away and someone else tears it apart. For better or worse, it’s not yours.”

As for going incognito in New York City, Josh said, “I like to disappear…When I was younger I learned how to get through this city without anybody noticing. Which is important to me.”