8 Great Actors Whose Bad Experiences Caused Them To Quit Hollywood

7. Realising That Movie Stardom Can Be "Uncomfortable" - Josh Hartnett

If Teen Choice Award nominations are anything to go by when it comes to judging an actor's ability, then Josh Hartnett might well be the greatest actor of his generation. Fortunately great acting isn't measured by the Teen Choice Awards, but fortunately for Hartnett his acting ability is considerably better than just being a handsome face which gets the girls swooning. After a string of hits early on in his career, from The Faculty and The Virgin Suicides through to Pearl Harbour and Black Hawk Down, Hartnett decided that Hollywood wasn't for him - after turning down the part of Superman he said of his experiences of fame, ""I know what it's like to be in that whole world. I was up there for a couple of years, and it was uncomfortable," and took a break from acting, focusing on political and social activism. Returning to independent films in the last few years and continuing to eschew mainstream commercial filmmaking, Hartnett is perhaps best known for his role as the gun for hire in the Showtime TV series Penny Dreadful. Perhaps Hollywood will beckon once again some time in the future.