He first came to audiences’ attention in 1997 as “Michael Fitzgerald” in the television series Cracker. Hartnett was born in Saint Paul, Minnesota, and was raised mostly by his father, Daniel Hartnett (a building manager), and his stepmother, Molly (an artist). A relative encouraged him to audition for a stage production of Tom Sawyer & Huckleberry Finn and to his surprise, he won the part of Huckleberry Finn. After finishing high school, a move to New York to attend the prestigious Conservatory of Theatre Arts & Film at SUNY Purchase did not go as well as he had hoped for, and a year later at age 19, Hartnett found himself in California. Although the series was cancelled after sixteen episodes, Hartnett had made a name for himself. He then began to focus on feature film work.
