TORONTO – Actor Josh Hartnett expressed his wish for more film production to return to Los Angeles, although he refrained from openly supporting U.S. President Donald Trump's recent initiatives aimed at luring the entertainment industry back to American soil. In an interview ahead of the Toronto International Film Festival's premiere of the Netflix miniseries "Below," Hartnett noted the need to support local crews by increasing production in Los Angeles.
Hartnett stated, "It would be nice to get more production back into Los Angeles to support those crews." This comes in response to Trump's call for federal tax incentives, aiming to address the trend of film and television projects shifting to Canada and other countries. On Monday, Trump urged Congress to approve these incentives, claiming that the film industry has increasingly relocated abroad.
In a controversial statement back in May 2025, Trump proposed a 100 percent tariff on films produced outside the United States, which he characterized as a move to reclaim an industry he believes has been "stolen" and poses a "national security threat." Despite this rhetoric, no formal policy related to the tariff has been enacted yet.
According to FilmLA, which tracks film production on behalf of Los Angeles' film office, significant efforts are still necessary to bring back filming and jobs to the region. Their report from the first quarter of 2026 revealed there were 5,121 "shoot days" in Los Angeles, an improvement from the previous quarter, but a 3.3 percent decline compared to the same period last year.
Hartnett highlighted the challenges that the drop in production has created for many film and television workers in Los Angeles. He mentioned, "From people that I know who have lived in Los Angeles recently and have moved away recently, the production, the amount of production in Los Angeles has dipped so much. It’s impossible to sustain the kind of culture that existed there beforehand." He noted that more production would benefit local crews struggling to find work.
However, Hartnett also expressed his enjoyment of working internationally, indicating that he wouldn't want to revert to a model where productions are limited to soundstages within Los Angeles. The miniseries "Below" was filmed in Newfoundland, and he reflected positively on his experience, saying, "The fact that we got to exist within the culture while we're making it... it's everything to me." He believes that being immersed in local culture enriches the filmmaking process, stating, "It helps inform the work and it also changes the nature of the filming process to an extent that it's just nothing like what you would get from being just on a sound stage somewhere."
Hartnett, recognized for his roles in "Black Hawk Down" and "Oppenheimer," pointed to his previous projects filmed in various locations such as Hong Kong, India, Australia, the Philippines, and Africa. In contrast to Hartnett's somewhat neutral stance on the political front, Mackenzie Davis, a Vancouver actress and co-star in "Below," took a firmer position regarding the Canada-U.S. trade tensions. She celebrated Canadians for resisting what she described as bullying from Washington, specifically crediting Prime Minister Mark Carney for his efforts in that regard.
Davis, who plays marine researcher Fonda Howander in "Below," shared her pride in seeing a "buy Canadian" movement that emerged during her filming in Newfoundland, during which American liquor and wine disappeared from store shelves. She remarked, "I love Canada, and I think it’s so cool," while candidly admitting, "I hate Donald Trump."
"Below," which delves into the storyline of a small coastal community besieged by a mysterious sea creature, is a six-part series created by Toronto-born writer Jesse McKeown. The series is scheduled to screen at TIFF on Thursday, Friday, and September 19, and will be available for global streaming on Netflix beginning October 8.
