JOSH HARTNETT - STIPE INSPIRED HARTNETT'S PHOTOGRAPHY PASSION

Hollywood hunk JOSH HARTNETT credits rocker MICHAEL STIPE with inspiring his passion for photography.

The VIRGIN SUICIDES star almost missed his calling as an actor to pursue his love of art at university, after seeing an image of the REM frontman in Britain's ROLLING STONE magazine.

He says, "Photography inspires me. I wanted to go to university to study painting.

"When I was 13-years-old, I saw a picture of Michael Stipe in Rolling Stone that was really well lit - it was then I became interested in portraiture."