Josh Hartnett Just Made His Once in Ten Years Social Media Appearance

He plans to "ghost" Instagram again very soon.

Josh Hartnett attends the "Oppenheimer" UK Premiere at Odeon Luxe Leicester Square on July 13, 2023 in London, England
(Image credit: Getty Images)

Josh Hartnett doesn't have any social media accounts (that we know of...), but he is participating in a bunch of social media trends for a limited time only. To promote his new action movie Fight or Flight, Hartnett has been appearing in posts on the movie's Instagram account—and poking fun at the fact that he usually steers clear of the platform.

A video posted on April 22 shows Hartnett from the point of view of a computer screen while a keyboard typing noise plays. Text on top of the clip reads, "Me promoting my film before ghosting social media for another 10 years."

The caption of the post says, "when your team insists on a social media content day to promote your new film, Fight or Flight (in theaters May 9), but you don’t get any of these viral trends."

Hartnett also participated in the trend in which a video is captioned with something flattering about someone, only for the camera to turn around and "accidentally" show that they were the one who wrote it. This video reveals the 46-year-old actor after showing the text, "Josh Hartnett is such a bad ass in Fight or Flight."

Another post shows Hartnett miming along to a voice saying "approved". He quickly "approves" drama and thriller movies, but pauses over action movies, before approving "action on an airplane."

To be more specific, Fight or Flight is an action-comedy. Hartnett stars as a man who is hired to capture a cyber-terrorist, The Ghost, on a flight, only to find out that the plane is full of hired hitmen, who are also after the same person. This leads, of course, to a lot of fighting on the flight.

Hartnett is putting in the work promoting the film on social media, and fans are loving it. The movie's Instagram account even took a request. Someone asked, "Can you guys make him to a TikTok dance next?" and the account posted a video clip of Hartnett wearing a pilot's hat set to music. It's captioned, "this is the best i could do hope you enjoy!!"

While Hartnett has been a well-known actor since the late '90s, he gained renewed attention in the past couple of years thanks to his roles in 2023's Oppenheimer and 2024's Trap.

At the 2024 Screen Actors Guild Awards, Hartnett was asked whether he saw fans talking about the "Josh Harnett Renaissance" online, and he confirmed just how disconnected he is from social media.

"I have not," he told Gold Derby. "I have four kids. I live in the countryside. I'm busy either working or taking care of them, but thank you. That's really kind. I'm working! I hope you guys see what I'm doing."

So, get your Jost Hartnett social media fix while you can. There's still a couple of weeks until Fight or Flight hits theaters. Who knows what else he'll get up to.

Lia Beck is a writer living in Brooklyn, NY, who covers entertainment, celebrity, and lifestyle. The former celebrity news editor at Bustle, she has also written for Refinery29, Hello Giggles, Cosmopolitan, PEOPLE, Entertainment Weekly, and more.