“A Thousand Years Old”- Josh Hartnett’s 12-Year-Old Goddaughter Thought He Was Way Too Ancient for 'Verity'

Published 09/29/2026, 1:45 AM CDT

Credit: Alisha Wetherill/Amazon MGM Studios

Josh Hartnett may be playing the leading man in Verity, but not everyone in his inner circle was convinced he was the right fit for the role. As the actor prepares to star alongside Anne Hathaway and Dakota Johnson in the big-screen adaptation of Colleen Hoover’s bestselling thriller, his 12-year-old goddaughter had one particularly brutal reaction to his casting. For a young fan of the book, Hartnett apparently wasn’t exactly the Jeremy Crawford she had pictured.

And her verdict? The actor was apparently somewhere around a thousand years too old for the part.

Josh Hartnett’s goddaughter had a brutal reaction to his Verity casting

Josh Hartnett recently came on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, where he revealed that his 12-year-old goddaughter, who is a fan of Colleen Hoover’s novel, was just not on board with him playing  Jeremy Crawford.

"You cannot be Jeremy. You are like a thousand years old," Hartnett shared what her goddaughter told him when she found out about the casting.

Josh Hartnett at the Trap No Way Out movie premiere on 31 07 2024 in Berlin Trap movie premiere in Berlin with Josh Hartnett

Hartnett’s story as he shared on the Fallon show, is particularly funny because the actor himself has become one of the most recognizable faces in the film’s star-studded cast. He plays Jeremy opposite Hathaway’s Verity Crawford and Dakota Johnson’s Lowen Ashleigh in the psychological thriller.

“I’m Going to Vanish”- Anne Hathaway Reveals Her Plans After ‘Verity’ Release

But while his goddaughter may have had strong opinions about who should play Jeremy, Hartnett is confident the movie will give audiences something else to argue about once the credits roll.

Josh Hartnett says Verity will leave viewers debating the ending

During an appearance on This Morning on September 25, Josh Hartnett teased one of the film’s biggest talking points: its deliberately ambiguous ending.

“And the point is it’s kind of an ambiguous ending. So you get to debate with your friends afterward, who you believe, which is fun. You don’t get that often in a Hollywood film,” he said.

Josh Hartnett attends Verity UK Gala Screening at the Curzon Mayfair in London, England. UK. Thursday 24th September 2026. Copyright: xJamesxWarrenx ae8hd940

That uncertainty is particularly fitting for Verity, a story built around competing versions of the truth. The film follows Lowen Ashleigh, a struggling writer hired to complete the bestselling book series of injured author Verity Crawford, only for Lowen to uncover disturbing material that raises questions about what really happened inside the Crawford family.

Rather than neatly settling the debate, Hartnett says the movie wants viewers to leave the theater and start arguing about it themselves. And with a story like Verity, that may be exactly the point.

“I’m Going to Vanish”- Anne Hathaway Reveals Her Plans After ‘Verity’ Release

Are you excited for Verity? Let us know in the comments.

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Itti Mahajan

126 articles

Itti Mahajan is an Entertainment Journalist and the Lead Editor at Netflix Junkie. With a past in marketing and scriptwriting— and a present spent decoding criminal minds (masters in psychology with a focus on criminology), she brings just the right mix of insight and intrigue to the desk. At Netflix Junkie, she is the editorial compass (and an unofficial team therapist), helping shape the voice of the brand, while also mentoring writers into success stories.

Edited By: Aliza Siddiqui

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