Why Josh Hartnett’s Wife Won’t Be Watching His ‘Black Mirror’ Episode

The highly anticipated return of Black Mirror is finally here. But there’s one person who won’t be tuning in.

“My wife already told me she’s not going to watch it,” Black Mirror star Josh Hartnett admitted, per ET Canada.

Hartnett has been married to actress Tamsin Egerton since the pair married in a secret ceremony in 2021. They had been dating they first met as costars on The Lovers in 2011.

“She asked me what it was about when I read it right off the bat… And she was like, ‘No, I won’t be watching it’,” he said. “She can’t separate herself from the entertainment that she’s watching it on like a visceral level. So I get that. I totally understand it.”

He continued, “Eventually she’ll watch it and then she’ll be mad at me.”

According to Hartnett, Egerton is already a fan of the sci-fi Netflix series. But it may take some time for her to come around on watching his episode of Black Mirror. It is certainly one of the darkest ones of the series yet, and filming it was no easy feat according to the actor.

“It was a truly awful day, I have to say. I think that was the worst, honestly,” Hartnett recently told The Hollywood Reporter.

The episode, entitled “Beyond The Sea,” is the longest episode of the season with a runtime of 80 minutes. It tells the story of two astronauts, played by Hartnett and Aaron Paul, who are on a six-year mission in space. The story takes place in an alternate 1969 where the astronauts are able to beam their consciences back to Earth where they lead lives with their loved ones to help with the isolation.

The retro space saga was written by Black Mirror creator Charlie Brooker. Spoilers for “Beyond The Sea” ahead.

The episode takes a turn when Hartnett’s astronaut, David, loses his wife and kids in a violent murder, lead by a cult leader who almost resembles Charles Manson. In the midst of this gruesome crime, the cult members also destroy the robot replica that helped him exist on Earth.

With years left in the mission, Paul’s character, Cliff, decides to let David use his robot replica so that he can still experience life on Earth. But that decision also goes terribly awry when David begins pursuing Cliff’s wife Lana, played by Kate Mara.

“I have kids and you just have to go to a place that you don’t want to go,” Hartnett, who shares three children with his wife, said. “I was so exhausted by the end of it. It was not fun. But that’s part of the job.”

Black Mirror is now streaming on Netflix.