Hartnett reveals he was busted on suspicion of grand theft auto during a drive in Texas, so Rodriguez and his then-wife Elizabeth Avellan went to help him.

The actor tells Bullett magazine, ""The cops who pulled me over typed in the vehicle identification number wrong, so they arrested me for stealing a car. Robert Rodriguez and Elizabeth Avellan came down to bail me out of the Austin county jail in the middle of the night, so that I could work the next morning.""

The actor failed to show up to court to fight the ""ridiculous"" charge and now has a criminal record.

He adds, ""They put a strike on my record (and) if I get arrested twice more, or get convicted of anything twice more in Texas, I'm getting the electric chair, or whatever they do now - lethal injection.""