Who directed Johnny Cash’s 2002 music video for “Hurt”?

Mark Romanek directed Johnny Cash’s 2002 music video for Hurt.

The video presents Cash at an advanced age among images connected with his life and career. It includes footage of his home, archival material, religious imagery, and scenes of objects associated with his public and personal history. The reflective presentation complemented the song’s themes of regret, memory, and mortality.

Cash recorded Hurt for his 2002 album American Recordings. The song was originally written and recorded by Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails, but Cash’s stripped-down interpretation gave it a different emotional and biographical context. Romanek’s video emphasized that contrast rather than copying the visual style of the original recording.

The clip is often discussed as one of Cash’s most important late-career works. A common mix-up is to credit the video’s emotional impact only to the song’s lyrics; its use of documentary-like images and Cash’s presence was equally central to how the video was received.