Joseph Gordon-Levitt

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Joseph Gordon-Levitt

Born Joseph Leonard Gordon-Levitt
February 17, 1981 (1981-02-17) (age 27)
Los Angeles, California, USA
Other name(s) Joe Gordon-Levitt, Joseph Gordon Levitt, Joseph Leonard Levitt
Years active 1988 ─ present
Official website

Joseph Leonard Gordon-Levitt (born February 17, 1981) is an American actor. He began as a child actor, and subsequently developed into adult roles, having strongly concentrated on independent films (including Brick and The Lookout).

Contents

[edit] Biography

[edit] Early life and family

Gordon-Levitt, the younger of two sons, was born in Los Angeles, California and lived in Sherman Oaks. He is Jewish.[1][2] His father, Dennis Levitt, was once the news director for the Pacifica Radio station, KPFK-FM.[3] His mother, Jane Gordon (daughter of director Michael Gordon),[3] ran for the United States Congress in California during the 1970s for the Peace and Freedom Party and met Dennis Levitt while she was working as the program guide editor for KPFK-FM.[3] His older brother, Daniel Gordon-Levitt (born 1974),[4] is a fire spinner.[5]

Gordon-Levitt joined a musical theater group at the age of four, and played the scarecrow in a production of The Wizard of Oz.[3] He was subsequently approached by an agent and began appearing on television and in commercials for Sunny Jim peanut butter, Cocoa Puffs, Pop-Tarts, and Kinney Shoes.[3]

Early in his career he was credited as Joseph Leonard Levitt and Joseph Gordon Levitt before adding a hyphen between Gordon and Levitt.

[edit] Early acting career

Gordon-Levitt began his acting career at the age of six, appearing in several late 1980s made-for-television films and two episodes of the series Family Ties. After having a lead role on the short-lived 1991 revival of the television series Dark Shadows as David Collins, he made his feature-film debut with a background role in 1992's Beethoven. Later that same year, he played a young version of Craig Sheffer's character in A River Runs Through It. At the age of twelve, Gordon-Levitt took the lead role of Gregory in the film Switching Parents, which was based on the true story of Gregory Kingsley, a boy who won the right to legally divorce his parents. In 1994, he played a Hutterite boy in the comedy, Holy Matrimony, and appeared in the lead role of the successful Disney film, Angels in the Outfield. From 1993 to 1995 he had a recurring role on the sitcom Roseanne.

In 1996, he began playing Tommy Solomon on the sitcom 3rd Rock from the Sun, a role which made him well known[3]. The San Francisco Chronicle noted the irony that Gordon-Levitt was a "Jewish kid playing an extraterrestrial pretending to be a Jewish kid".[1] In 1998, he was a guest star in the first season of That '70s Show, appearing in the episode "Eric's Buddy" as a gay schoolmate of Eric Forman's. During the late 1990s, he also appeared in several films, including The Juror (1996), as Demi Moore's character's son, the horror film Halloween H20: 20 Years Later (1998), as a pre-credit victim, Sweet Jane (1998) opposite Samantha Mathis, and the Shakespeare-based teen comedy 10 Things I Hate About You (1999), in which he had a leading role. He performed the voice of the main character Jim Hawkins in the Disney animated feature, Treasure Planet (2002).

[edit] Return to acting

Gordon-Levitt has said that he made a conscious decision to "be in good movies" after returning to acting.[6] Since the early 2000s, he has appeared in what has been described by the Boston Herald as a series "of acclaimed and underseen indies"[7] that "pegged him as a rising star on the indie film circuit".[1] These include 2001's drama Manic, which was set in a mental institution, 2004's Mysterious Skin, in which he played a gay prostitute and child sexual abuse victim, and 2005's Brick, a modern-day film noir set at a high school (San Clemente High School), in which he had the lead role of Brendan Frye, a teen who becomes involved in an underground drug ring while investigating a murder. Brick received positive reviews,[6] with The Minnesota Daily's review commenting that Gordon-Levitt played the character "beautifully", "true to film’s style", "unfeeling but not disenchanted" and "sexy in the most ambiguous way",[8] and another review describing the performance as "astounding".[9]

Gordon-Levitt's next role was in The Lookout, playing Chris Pratt, a janitor involved in a bank heist. The film was released on March 30, 2007. In reviewing the film, The Philadelphia Inquirer described Gordon-Levitt as a "surprisingly formidable, and formidably surprising, leading man",[10] while New York magazine stated that he is a "major tabula rasa actor... a minimalist" and that his character works because he "doesn’t seize the space... by what he takes away from the character";[11] the San Francisco Chronicle specified that he "embodies, more than performs, a character's inner life".[1] Several critics have suggested that his role in The Lookout will turn Gordon-Levitt to a mainstream actor.[1] His 2008 films include Killshot, playing an assassin opposite Diane Lane and Mickey Rourke, and Stop-Loss, directed by Kimberly Peirce and revolving around American soldiers returning from the Iraq War.[6]

Gordon-Levitt has received several praises and positive reviews for his performances.[12] His acclaimed films include the 2001's drama Manic, 2004's Mysterious Skin, 2005's Brick, and 2007's The Lookout.[6][8][9] Observing Gordon-Levitt's current acclaim from critics and audiences alike, Showbiz notes that Gordon-Levitt has "defied the cliched fates that befall most underage actors when they grow up",[12] while The New York Times has described him as "one of the hottest young stars in the indie firmament".[3] Gordon-Levitt, who regularly researches his roles by exposing himself to real-life versions of the character before acting as them, does not label himself as a Method actor.[13]

Gordon-Levitt has been cast in the G.I. Joe live-action film as Cobra Commander.[14] It has also been reported that Levitt is cast as Tetsuo Shima in the live-action production of the science fiction cyberpunk manga and anime Akira produced by Leonardo DiCaprio.[15]

[edit] Personal life

Gordon-Levitt attended Van Nuys High School in 1996. As part of starring in 3rd Rock from the Sun, Levitt appeared in five of NBC's public service announcements, The More You Know. His topics covered drinking while driving, peer pressure, hate crimes, staying in school, and violence prevention. He also appeared in the annual White House television special, Christmas in Washington during the Bill Clinton administration in 1996, and in the Fox Family television special Dear Santa in 2002.

During the 1990s, he was frequently featured in teenage magazines, something he resented.[3] He has also said that during this time period, he did not enjoy being recognized in public, specifying that he "hates celebrity".[1] In 2000-2001, Gordon-Levitt left 3rd Rock from the Sun during its final season, asking to be released from his contract[3] (he came back only for its final episode, "The Thing That Wouldn't Die"). For the two years following, he quit acting[6] and attended Columbia University (the only university he had applied to),[3] taking French poetry, history and literature.[3] Since his study at Columbia, he has become an avid and self-confirmed Francophile.[3] He has said that moving to New York City (he currently resides in Lower East Side, Manhattan) from his hometown "forced" him to grow as a person.[1] Gordon-Levitt dropped out of the university in 2004 to concentrate on acting again.[3]

Gordon-Levitt has donated to the Green Party of New York in 2001 and 2002; as well as Howard Dean's campaign for the 2004 general election's presidential primaries.[16][4] In a February 9, 2008 comment about "Yes We Can", he wrote about a liking for Barack Obama in the 2008 presidential election.[17]

Gordon-Levitt was in a publicized relationship with 10 Things I Hate About You co-star Julia Stiles in 1999. Also, he is known to be a friend of Evan Rachel Wood,[18] and Channing Tatum.[19]

Gordon-Levitt has made a short film, Sugartown Traders (2004), named after the store in which the movie takes place, was filmed in Lawrence, Kansas while visiting with Mysterious Skin colleagues Scott Heim, Gregg Araki, and Brady Corbet. Another popular short film of his is Pictures to Assholes (2006), inspired from an encounter with street photographers.

Levitt has also recorded a song entitled "I Don't Want to Live on the Moon," written by Jeff Moss and performed originally by Ernie. He also plays the guitar.

[edit] Filmography

Year Title Role Notes
1988 Stranger on My Land Rounder made-for-television (ABC)
1989 Settle the Score Justin made-for-television (NBC)
1990 Dark Shadows David Collins made-for-television (ABC)
1991 Changes Matt Hallam made-for-television (NBC)
Hi Honey - I'm Dead Josh Stadler made-for-television (FOX)
Plymouth Simon made-for-television (ABC)
1992 Beethoven Student #1
A River Runs Through It Young Norman
1993 Partners made-for-television
Switching Parents Gregory Kingsley made-for-television (ABC)
1994 Holy Matrimony Ezekiel
Angels in the Outfield Roger Bomman
1995 The Great Elephant Escape Matthew made-for-television (ABC)
1996 The Juror Oliver Laird
1998 Halloween H20: 20 Years Later Jimmy Howell
Sweet Jane Tony
1999 10 Things I Hate About You Cameron James
2000 Forever Lulu Martin Ellsworth straight-to-television
2001 Manic Lyle Jensen released in 2003
2002 Treasure Planet Jim Hawkins Voice only
2003 Havoc Sam straight-to-video release in 2005
Latter Days Elder Paul Ryder
2004 Mysterious Skin Neil McCormick
2006 Brick Brendan Frye
Shadowboxer Dr. Don
2007 The Lookout Chris Pratt
2008 Killshot Richie Nix
Stop-Loss Tommy Burgess
Uncertainty TBA post-production
2009 Miracle at St. Anna TBA
G.I. Joe Cobra Commander post-production
500 Days of Summer Lead filming
Akira Tetsuo Shima announced

[edit] Awards and nominations

Won
Nominated

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Chonin, Neva. "Look out: his star is rising", San Francisco Chronicle, 2007-03-25. Retrieved on 2007-03-26. 
  2. ^ McCafferty, Dennis; Alan Carter, Lydia Strohl. "Favorites of a young Rock star", USA Weekend, 1999-04-04. Retrieved on 2007-03-26. 
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Lidz, Frank. "From Alien Boy to Growing Star in the Indie Universe", The New York Times, 2007-03-25. Retrieved on 2007-03-26. 
  4. ^ a b Joseph Gordon-Levitt @ Notable Names Database
  5. ^ Dan Gordon-Levitt's website
  6. ^ a b c d e Roberts, Sheila. "Joseph Gordon-Levitt Interview, The Lookout", MoviesOnline, 2007-03-24. Retrieved on 2007-03-26. 
  7. ^ Schaefer, Stephen. "Brick by ‘Brick’: Complex roles rebuild Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s love of acting", The Boston Herald, 2006-03-29. Retrieved on 2007-03-26. 
  8. ^ a b Fjerstad, Tatum. "This film's too cool for school - in a good way", The Minnesota Daily, 2006-04-06. Retrieved on 2007-03-26. 
  9. ^ a b Wright, Andrew. "On Screen", The Stranger: Seattle's Only Newspaper, 2006-04-06. Retrieved on 2007-03-26. 
  10. ^ Rea, Steven. "On Movies", The Philadelphia Inquirer, 2007-03-25. Retrieved on 2007-03-26. 
  11. ^ Edelstein, David. "A Terrible Thing to Waste", New York Magazine, 2007-03-25. Retrieved on 2007-03-26. 
  12. ^ a b Williamson, Kevin. "Gordon-Levitt on 'The Lookout'", Jam! Showbiz, 2007-03-24. Retrieved on 2007-03-25. 
  13. ^ "Listening To Pearl Jam Prepped Joseph Gordon-Levitt For 'Lookout' Role", VH1. Retrieved on 2008-05-15. 
  14. ^ MovieWeb.com: Joseph Gordon-Levitt's Role in 'G.I. Joe' Revealed
  15. ^ MLive-Action AKIRA moves forward... with the King Of The World? PLUS - Exclusive AICN - We Know who Tetsuo is!
  16. ^ [1]
  17. ^ http://www.hitrecord.org/forum/viewtopic.php?p=28561&highlight=#28561
  18. ^ O'Toole, Lesley. "Distress princess", Guardian Unlimited, 2006-06-24. Retrieved on 2006-06-24. 
  19. ^ "Channing Tatum talks G.I. JOE and PUBLIC ENEMIES", Collider, 2008-03-16. Retrieved on 2008-03-18. 

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