The newly reemerged Joseph Gordon-Levitt |
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You recognize his face and have seen him grow up on television shows like "Third Rock from the Sun" as well as in features films like the crime thriller THE JUROR playing Demi Moore's perceptive son; but did you ever take time to appreciate how very talented this young, twenty-five year-old actor truly is?
Starring in this season's well-received indie film noir, BRICK, Levitt as the critics says plays the modern-day crime fiction writer | detective in blue jeans with moppish hair and wire rimmed glasses.
From Gordon-Levitt's comments on cinematical's website, he is all too well aware of how difficult it is get certain art house films made these days.
"I am amazed that this movie is even out. This movie (BRICK) cost one one-hundredth of what most movies you see in the theaters cost. It had a crew of like 30 people; most crews are like 200, 300 people. There weren't any resources; there weren't any politics, there weren't any big institutions or corporations behind this movie. It was just a really good piece of writing and a few people that cared about it."
In the dark and imaginative film, written and directed by newcomer Rian Johnson, Gordon-Levitt plays Brendan, a high school "gumshoe." After receiving a last-minute cry for help phone call from his ex-girlfriend, just minutes before she disappears, Brendan utilizes all of his underworld contacts to navigate an elaborate find and recover mission.
Successfully moving beyond his childhood roles, Gordon-Levitt, a Los Angeles native who has been acting since he was six-years-old, took an interesting turn in his career opting for intense indie films as opposed to commercial Gen-X blockbusters. Well, he has taken on some of these, as well, HALLOWEEN: H20 (he is killed off in the opening scene) and TEN THINGS I HATE ABOUT YOU.
Within the past several years, we have had the pleasure of viewing Gordon-Levitt in MYSTERIOUS SKIN (2004), a critically acclaimed tale of a teenage hustler and his pursuit of truth, love and happiness; HAVOC (2005), director Barbara Kopple's fictional expose of wealthy high schoolers attracted to the gangsta hip-hop culture; and SHADOWBOXER, the story of a female assassin's (Helen Mirren) deathbed killing executed by her lover | stepson (Cuba Gooding, Jr.). All three of these films showcase his interest in flirting with the dark side.
However, anything other dark, what he brings to these pictures is not all negative and serious rather he injects a clever, quick wittedness into material riddled with complex characters and interwoven plots.
While not one to be in awe of any his co-stars, Gordon-Levitt admits to being respectful of a handful. And one of which he concedes is John Lithgow with whom he worked from 1996-2001 on NBC-TV's Emmy Award winning comedy | sci-fi sitcom, 
Gordon-Levitt in BRICK photo credit Focus Features |
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"Third Rock from the Sun". Playing Tommy Solomon, the youngest alien in the clan, Gordon-Levitt credits Lithgow with educating him on a rigorous work ethic.
Upon the completion of the series' successful six-season run, he attended Columbia University in New York City, where he spent time pondering all of his many career options. Yet, after graduation, Gordon-Levitt made a concerted decision to return to the world of acting.
"All my friends were moving out of the house and going to school and could do anything they wanted to do, and that's what I wanted," he says. "I could be a physicist. I could be a journalist in Senegal. I came around [to the idea] that you have to do what you love to do, but do it for a reason. That's when I started acting again, "stated Gordon-Levitt on the Combustible Celluloid website.
Continuing on with his current "hot streak", Gordon-Levitt can be seen summer 2006 in Elmore Leonard's KILLSHOT. Directed by John Madden (PROOF and SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE) Gordon-Levitt stars alongside a stellar ensemble cast including: Johnny Knoxville, Diane Lane, Rosario Dawson and an actor who is really good at playing bad guys, Mickey Rourke.
The promotional tagline says, "One wife, one husband, two killers and one killshot," while advance reviews call KILLSHOT a smart, stylish crime flick.
According to Gordon-Levitt on filmforce.ign.com, "It is a really smart, faithful adaptation of the book. The book is such a tight page-turner... The character I play is an extreme guy... He's a killer. He wants to be Jesse James. He grew up watching cowboy and Indian movies and wants to be that."
And also on tap for Gordon-Levitt is LOOKOUT a film in which he plays a young guy with a head injury and his involvement in a bank robbery.
"It's hard. It's fun. It's very satisfying, but from my character's point of view, every little thing is a lot of effort, just to concentrate on what you're saying is a lot of effort. The cool thing about THE LOOKOUT is it's not a movie about this guy with a brain injury. It's actually an impeccable bank heist with this character at the center of it. So it's a bank heist with depth to it."
Beyond LOOKOUT–what does Gordon-Levitt see himself doing?
"I would like to keep working with people who care about what they're doing," he explained. "And if people who care about what they're doing want to keep wanting to work with me, then I think it should work out pretty well."
Gordon-Levitt may just very well be single-handedly proving the theory wrong that all child actors wind up mixed-up and confused. Or, perhaps, it may just be that he has found a therapeutic way of acting out his frustrations and ambiguities as opposed to living them....
Joseph Gordon-Levitt on Matchflick
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Every other Friday
A capsulized profile on an emerging talent, i.e., actor/director in the film world and a snippet as to why he or she is destined to soon become a household name.
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| Nancy Simon |
A Chicago-based freelance writer and film enthusiast, Nancy has an insatiable curiousity and knack for picking out talented, promising individuals.
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