Josh Hartnett admits heartthrob label was 'frustrating'

Josh Hartnett has admitted it was "frustrating" to be labelled a heartthrob.

In a new interview with People, the 46-year-old actor opened up about being the object of teenage fandom early in his career.

"I was frustrated because I assumed audiences cared more about my choices than they did," Josh said. "Audiences mostly just want to be entertained."

The star said he tends to want to play "characters who were quite a bit different from the average hero," but he has also done "a couple of heroic films and everybody wanted me to play those kinds of roles and that's what I was being offered."

Josh went on to explain that "the door kind of shut on those other more interesting characters for me unless I sought them out and kind of help the directors get them made."

The Virgin Suicides star told the outlet that he learned early in his career that he had to be "very true to myself".

He continued, "Because if I lost that in the midst of all these other opinions and in the midst of all this fame, I might lose myself entirely. And I didn't want that."

The Oppenheimer actor noted that as a young actor, he was trying to figure out who he was.

"I was in my early 20s. At that point in your life your frontal lobe isn't fully formed and your idea of self isn't fully actualised," he explained. "So to have everybody sort of with a million different opinions on what they would like you to be before you know who you are is not healthy."

Josh added, "I knew that at the time."