Josh Hartnett’s Hair Makeover Sends Kids Into Tears
Hold onto your tissues: Josh Hartnett’s latest stunt—splashing blonde streaks through his brunette mane for the new action flick Fight or Flight—turned bedtime at home into an unexpected sob fest. The 46-year-old actor dropped by Today on May 8 to spill the tea on his character’s dramatic hair transformation, but the real shocker emerged when he admitted that his own children reacted with full-blown waterworks. According to Hartnett (as reported by People Magazine and corroborated by Dotdash Meredith’s RSS feed), “My wife really liked it, … and I don’t really know why, but my kids, no, they cried. But they cry every time I change my look, and being an actor I have to do that quite a bit.”
For anyone who thought swapping shampoo bottles was the most traumatic thing in Hollywood, think again. Hartnett pointed out that his little ones have grown accustomed to his dad’s perpetual beard but burst into tears the second he shaved or spruced up his locks. “My dad’s had a beard his entire life. If he shaved his beard, I think I would cry too,” he quipped, deadpan as ever.
Josh Hartnett’s children—four in total, kept strictly off-social media and unnamed in press—arrived in late 2015, 2017, 2019, and the most recent in February 2024, per public records and People’s free daily newsletter tease. He and wife Tamsin Egerton, married November 2021, have mastered the art of privacy, though Hartnett occasionally offers sneak peeks of his domestic life in interviews.
During a May 7 appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Hartnett revealed the theatrical side of his family’s banter, admitting his offspring treat him like a foreigner in his own home. “My kids love to give me crap about being an American because I’m the only American in our house. I’m a foreigner in my own home,” he deadpanned, adding that his middle child’s spot-on impersonation involves claims like, “I’m Daddy, and I like pizza and I won’t mow the lawn.” Meanwhile, his youngest offers unsolicited English lessons: “You might not understand this Daddy, but in England we say boot instead of trunk of a car.”
Behind the giggles and tears, Hartnett insists he and Egerton deliberately shield their brood from Hollywood’s glare. He told People during Trap’s press run that they’ll “try and keep them away from it as much as possible because we want them to have normal upbringings.” Fair enough—nothing says ‘normal’ like daddy shedding tears over a dye job.
Fight or Flight is now in theaters, and based on Hartnett’s family clinic of reactions, it’s safe to assume this action hero’s hair will be running for the hills long before the box office. So there you have it—another family meltdown courtesy of Hollywood hair. You’ve been warned.
Sources: Celebrity Storm and People Magazine, Dotdash Meredith
Attribution: Creative Commons Licensed
