Hollywood Hotties

(Hollywood hunk, Josh Hartnett, taking a stab at glamming up his image.)

If you had asked me in the late 90's who the hot male actors would be to watch for in the next decade, I would have answered in order of preference: 1) Josh Hartnett; and 2) Heath Ledger. While Heath has finally realized his potential with a landmark performance in last year's Oscar-winning masterpiece, Brokeback Mountain, Josh has yet to really come into his own as the cinematic leading man that his early performances promised.

I first noticed Heath on a short-lived sword and sorcery series on Fox called Roar. It was a great guilty pleasure that deserved to be given more of a chance to find its audience. Lisa Zane was absolutely bitch-tacular as the evil Queen Diana. Every week I would tune in to watch as she attempted to get her immaculately manicured talons on the hunky hero, Conor, played by the gorgeous and youthful Heath. I think the picture on the right pretty much explains why I was hopelessly addicted to the show.

Alas, the series was cancelled after only a few short months, leaving Heath to fend for himself in Hollywood. His first big role after Roar was 10 Things I Hate About You. I've never seen this updated teen version of The Taming of the Shrew, but I understand that it has its fans and was moderately successful. Heath probably could have made a fortune after that churning out a slew of teen romantedies. However, he chose to defy expectations and explored a variety of roles.

2001 was an especially strong year for Heath when he returned to his genre roots and starred in the wildly entertaining A Knight's Tale. He balanced this more mainstream film, though, with a small and nuanced performance in the hard-hitting Monster's Ball. This was probably the first indication that this teen heartthrob actually had some acting chops.

Granted, there were a few forgettable missteps in his career following this (did anyone really buy Heath Ledger as a Catholic priest in The Order). But, the power of his performance in Brokeback is undeniable. I love Philip Seymour Hoffman and think that his Capote is brilliant. However, I would have given the Best Actor Oscar to Ledger in a heartbeat. In years to come, we will look back on Ledger's complete embodiment of Ennis Del Mar as a treasure that stands up against Brando's Stanley Kowalski.

I also first discovered Josh in genre entertainment, playing Jamie Lee Curtis's deliciously hot son in Halloween: H2O. This is probably the only Halloween sequel worth watching and part of the reason for that is Josh's terrific screen presence. He's one of the few potential teen victims in the entire series that you actually route for as they get stalked by the unstoppable Michael Meyers. It would just be such a waste of a gorgeous guy. Interestingly enough, Michelle Williams, Heath's costar in Brokeback and real life, plays Josh's girlfriend in this thriller. She, on the other hand, had the audience routing for Michael!

Following this initiation into the big leagues, Josh seemed to be on the track to stardom, appearing in another reasonably entertaining horror film, The Faculty, and then stealing every scene appearing as teen god Trip Fontaine in Sofia Coppola's ethereal The Virgin Suicides.

But then something went amiss, starting with Josh costarring with Mr. Bland himself, Ben Affleck, in the crap-tastic Pearl Harbor. More questionable role choices followed that seemed to rely more on Josh's youthful yet masculine good looks rather than actual acting ability, including Black Hawk Down and Hollywood Homicide.

The one bright spot on Josh's recent resume has been a small but quirky role in Frank Miller's visionary Sin City. Unfortunately, Josh has another generic looking action flick opening today, Lucky Number Slevin. I was initially somewhat excited by the prospect of him working with the woefully underutilized Lucy Liu. The ubiquitous television spots that all seem to feature Josh flopping around in nothing but a tiny towel didn't have anything to do with my interest in the movie. Ya, right! But then I realized that the film also starred Bruce Willis and is being released during the dumping ground season when the studios know that they have inferior product that can't compete with the big summer fare. Turns out, Rotten Tomatoes is giving Slevin a lousy 53% rating.

And yet, there is some hope on the horizon for hunky Josh. We can expect to see him this year in Brian De Palma's thriller The Black Dahlia. De Palma's last film, Femme Fatale starring Rebecca Romijn, was an underappreciated gem. Dahlia also has an amazing cast going for it including Scarlett Johansson, Hilary Swank, Aaron Eckhart and Mia Kirshner.

Will this be the break-out role that Josh needs in order to show that he's got what it takes to stand among the celluloid elite? Probably not; but it looks like a step in the right direction. From the playful pics at the top of this post, it looks like Josh may be ready to show some real range by trying his hand at a really daring role such as a transvestite or drag queen. Now that would be Oscar-worthy! However, he'll need to start taking head model Marsha's advice and put his makeup on before he gets tore-up drunk. The lip color's fabulous, but the execution is leaving much to be desired.

Smooches,
Daph