Josh Hartnett lands juicy role in new Showtime series

The Minnesota actor turns to the horror genre in highly anticipated cable series.

July 30, 2013 at 9:06PM
(The Minnesota Star Tribune)
(The Minnesota Star Tribune)

LOS ANGELES -- Minnesota native Josh Hartnett is the latest actor to see that the best place to play dark, complicated characters is cable television.

He'll play Ethan Chandler, a "fake cowboy" in VIctorian London in "Penny Dreadful," a project from John Logan who was received Oscar nominations for his screenplays for "The Aviator," "Hugo" and "Gladiator." Logan wrote all eight episodes, which are being billed as a horror series with unorthodox monsters. Sam Mendes is one of the producers and Juan Antonio Bayona ("The Impossible") will direct at least two episodes.

Hartnett, whose film career is in a bit of a rut, will be working onscreen with Eva Green.

The production starts this fall with the launch coming next year.

about the writer

about the writer

Neal Justin

Critic / Reporter

Neal Justin is the pop-culture critic, covering how Minnesotans spend their entertainment time. He also reviews stand-up comedy. Justin previously served as TV and music critic for the paper. He is the co-founder of JCamp, a non-profit program for high-school journalists, and works on many fronts to further diversity in newsrooms.

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