Josh Hartnett has solved murder cases, fought in bloody combat zones and managed to survive (almost) 40 days and 40 nights of abstinence. But he faces one of his stiffest challenges yet in his new film, 'Resurrecting the Champ': keeping afloat opposite Samuel L. Jackson. Hartnett plays a struggling sports writer who gets the scoop of a lifetime when he discovers a wearied vagrant (Jackson) may actually be a boxing champ long thought dead. We drilled the Minnesota native about keeping up with 'The Champ' and more.
MoviefoneKevin: hey Josh, what's up?
JoshSavesAChamp: not much man. what's up with you?
MoviefoneKevin: chilling. nice work on Champ, enjoyed the movie
JoshSavesAChamp: thank you very much. i had a great time working on it
MoviefoneKevin: after Black Dahlia, this is the second time we've seen you around the boxing ring lately... are you much of a sports fan?
JoshSavesAChamp: yeah... i'm a huge sports fan. i became really interested in boxing when i was shooting black dahlia
MoviefoneKevin: so lemme guess... Twins, Vikings, T-Wolves?
JoshSavesAChamp: exactly
MoviefoneKevin: oh, and The Wild of course
MoviefoneKevin: though I miss the North Stars
JoshSavesAChamp: we all do man. we all do
MoviefoneKevin: haha. and you played football in high school right? would you say you were a jock?
JoshSavesAChamp: not really, just passin the time. i was never very good
MoviefoneKevin: tell me about working with Samuel L Jackson. So different to find him NOT playing a bad mutha f***a
JoshSavesAChamp: he's just as bad in life as he is on screen
MoviefoneKevin: he looked pretty damn grungy... did he do any thing to make his homelessness more authentic?
MoviefoneKevin: IE -- come to set smelling like funk
JoshSavesAChamp: you just stole my answer
MoviefoneKevin: haha
MoviefoneKevin: say it aint so
JoshSavesAChamp: we shot at a homeless shelter, and they almost didn't let sam in
MoviefoneKevin: oh man
JoshSavesAChamp: because he kinda fit right in
JoshSavesAChamp: they didn't recognize him at all
MoviefoneKevin: tell me he responded by dropping f bombs all over the place
MoviefoneKevin: "you better let me in this mutha f***in shelter!"
JoshSavesAChamp: no i think he dug it
MoviefoneKevin: yeah he does seem like a real cool dude outside of his screen persona
MoviefoneKevin: they do call him The King of Cool
JoshSavesAChamp: indeed
MoviefoneKevin: you play a sports writer... think folks will buy such a good-looking dude playing a journalist? ;-)
JoshSavesAChamp: i was the ugliest dude in the newsroom
JoshSavesAChamp: calgary is filled with amazing looking journalists
MoviefoneKevin: haha. you did have some fine ladies around, I gotta say
MoviefoneKevin: oh so that was Calgary filling in for Denver (where the film takes place)?
JoshSavesAChamp: yeah, it was
Go to part 2
MoviefoneKevin: hey Josh, what's up?
JoshSavesAChamp: not much man. what's up with you?
MoviefoneKevin: chilling. nice work on Champ, enjoyed the movie
JoshSavesAChamp: thank you very much. i had a great time working on it
MoviefoneKevin: after Black Dahlia, this is the second time we've seen you around the boxing ring lately... are you much of a sports fan?
JoshSavesAChamp: yeah... i'm a huge sports fan. i became really interested in boxing when i was shooting black dahlia
MoviefoneKevin: so lemme guess... Twins, Vikings, T-Wolves?
JoshSavesAChamp: exactly
MoviefoneKevin: oh, and The Wild of course
MoviefoneKevin: though I miss the North Stars
JoshSavesAChamp: we all do man. we all do
MoviefoneKevin: haha. and you played football in high school right? would you say you were a jock?
JoshSavesAChamp: not really, just passin the time. i was never very good
MoviefoneKevin: tell me about working with Samuel L Jackson. So different to find him NOT playing a bad mutha f***a
JoshSavesAChamp: he's just as bad in life as he is on screen
MoviefoneKevin: he looked pretty damn grungy... did he do any thing to make his homelessness more authentic?
MoviefoneKevin: IE -- come to set smelling like funk
JoshSavesAChamp: you just stole my answer
MoviefoneKevin: haha
MoviefoneKevin: say it aint so
JoshSavesAChamp: we shot at a homeless shelter, and they almost didn't let sam in
MoviefoneKevin: oh man
JoshSavesAChamp: because he kinda fit right in
JoshSavesAChamp: they didn't recognize him at all
MoviefoneKevin: tell me he responded by dropping f bombs all over the place
MoviefoneKevin: "you better let me in this mutha f***in shelter!"
JoshSavesAChamp: no i think he dug it
MoviefoneKevin: yeah he does seem like a real cool dude outside of his screen persona
MoviefoneKevin: they do call him The King of Cool
JoshSavesAChamp: indeed
MoviefoneKevin: you play a sports writer... think folks will buy such a good-looking dude playing a journalist? ;-)
JoshSavesAChamp: i was the ugliest dude in the newsroom
JoshSavesAChamp: calgary is filled with amazing looking journalists
MoviefoneKevin: haha. you did have some fine ladies around, I gotta say
MoviefoneKevin: oh so that was Calgary filling in for Denver (where the film takes place)?
JoshSavesAChamp: yeah, it was
Go to part 2