The set struggle was real
If you thought your rough weeks were bad, Josh Hartnett just dropped the ultimate 'my week was mid' story. During a chat on the Front Row podcast, the 48-year-old actor revealed that filming the Verity adaptation came with a side of highkey nightmare fuel: a case of food poisoning so severe it left him unable to walk for 10 days.
"It was food poisoning, but it was a terrible food poisoning," Hartnett shared. "My muscles had all seized up."
Behind the scenes vibes
Director Michael Showalter confirmed that the situation on set was actually pretty intense. He noted that for a huge chunk of the production, whenever Josh wasn't on camera, he was basically just resting up while battling the illness.
But despite the physical struggle, Hartnett said the vibes between him and his co-stars—Anne Hathaway and Dakota Johnson—remained immaculate. The cast relied on solid friendship and, surprisingly, constant laughing fits during some of the darker, more intense scenes. Hathaway added that she was totally stoked to work with such a stacked cast, saying she showed up "pumped every day" because she knew exactly what her co-stars were capable of pulling off. It’s giving professionalism, no cap.
Why it matters
It’s a classic case of the show must go on—even when your body is acting like the plot thickens in the worst way possible. Hartnett managed to push through the "terrible" illness to deliver the performance, proving that sometimes, main character energy is just about surviving the set until the cameras stop rolling.
