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HOME arrow Spotlights arrow Joseph Gordon Levitt
Joseph Gordon Levitt Print E-mail
Written by Jed Medina   
Saturday, 09 June 2007

In a State of Independence
Joseph Gordon Levitt, definitely one of today's most talented- with amazing performances in Mysterious Skin, Brick, The Lookout- in tMF profile!
by Kathleen Sydenham

“The movies I watch and the music I listen to and the books I read - those are important to me. It's very important to me, and I don't know what I would do without those things. And so to be a part of that exchange is about as meaningful to me as anything I can think of. “

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A quote from Joseph Gordon Levitt on how much he value being part of an art form that celebrates life itself- cinema! In this age where a lot of young people are obsessed with ‘celebrities’ here is one honest-to-goodness actor who frowns upon the very existence of supermarket tabloids and celebrity gossip shows.

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The Indie Kid: With his penchant for portraying painfully true and dark characters in such acclaimed films as Mysterious Skin (hustler), Brick (student straying into dangerous territory) and Manic (mental patient), Joseph Gordon Levitt is not your run-of-the-mill young actor who graces fan magazines and pose with a grin on his face.

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With his preference for doing indie films, Levitt can be seen in the recent 'Shadowboxer' with Helen Miren and Cuba Gooding Jr., adding to an already impressive list of powerful portrayals.

He can even take on roles as an 'elder' in the gay romantic film Latter Days and as a promising youth who got everything until a tragic accident, in the upcoming The Lookout. Not your ordinary young actor resume, indeed!

Intense, focused and assertive, Levitt is beyond the traditional Hollywood movie idol. While many may remember him for his light comedic run in Third Rock from the Sun, this young Californian has preferred to be seen acting on independent films.

'... When I first saw the script of Manic, I was in the midst of reading a lot of scripts for teenagers. And basically what people write for teenagers when it comes to studios is just shit!" he said in a recent interview.

"Hollywood has the idea that movies have to be dumb. But especially movies for or about teenagers have to be really dumb!" he added. Thus, he was thrilled to be directed by such acclaimed filmmakers as Gregg Araki and Rian Johnson, two of today's no-nonsense directors who have produced some critically acclaimed films.

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Not being afraid to take chances and keen on portraying unconventional yet realistic and down to earth roles makes Levitt an honest-to-goodness actor. He wants to make a difference and he is serious about his craft. In a recent interview, Levitt commented on being casted for Mysterious Skin:

'Greg Arakki changed me for sure, just in instilling his confidence in me,' he says. I never really thought of myself as being able to play that kind of role, being able to play the role that everyone's attracted to.

Just him casting me as that character just changed my perception of myself. Like, wow, me? I can be the sexy one?! Wow." He knows that his roles can affect other peoples' lives especially young men like him. [ Interview excerpt from TheCinemaSource.com ]

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"At the Philadelphia film festival, a young guy came up to me, who was 16 or 17, and he said 'That character is pretty much me, and I was in places like that, and I came to this movie 2 days ago, and I came back again today to watch it again, so thank you' "


With a number of films in various stages of production, Levitt is definitely one of today's most talented young actors. Coming up is another lead role for the film, The Lookout, a crime drama centered on Chris (Gordon-Levitt), a once promising high school athlete who becomes mentally impaired after a tragic accident.

As he tries to maintain a normal life, he takes a job as a janitor at a bank where he ultimately finds himself caught up in a planned heist.

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Joseph Gordon Levitt To Star In 'Akira'?: Cinematical says Variety just recently reported that Warner Bros has reclaimed the rights to Katsuhiro Otomo's six-volume graphic novel Akira after a spirited bidding war, and is planning to adapt the book into two live action films. The project is being put on the fast track, with the first film due to be released in summer 2009. [ read more ]

JOE LEVITT by Hedi Slimane: A few high-res scans!: Hedi Slimane, the designer of the über-cool Dior Homme, once photographed tMF favorite Joseph Gordon-Levitt. Of course, he's wearing Dior! Says the designer:

"Joseph isn't that different from the models I usually worked with. The shoot was very casual. It was just the two of us. There was no agenda." [ read more ]

Joseph Gordon-Levitt Embraces ‘Uncertainty’ : The floppy-haired boy we first came to love in “Ten Things I Hate About You” and “3rd Rock from the Sun” has long since graduated to more adult material with flicks like “Brick,” “Mysterious Skin” and “The Lookout.” Next year, Joseph Gordon-Levitt will try to keep the momentum going by broaching a very sensitive subject, in the family drama “Uncertainty.”  [ read more ]

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Profile written by Kathleen Sydenham for the Movie-Fanatic.

Comments (8)

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Joe is Spidey???
That seems to be the second time I asked that question! :zzz

Anyway, Jan, thanks again for the post, I want to add this here in his profile, for we keep on getting more and more hits of joe's profile page. We'll also be cvreating a separate sub-directory for him, it's about time!

With Tobey Maguire still uncertain about whether or not he’ll be playing Spider-Man after the third movie, Sony is preparing a contingency plan that will allow the franchise to move on without him. We have a line on who one of the actors they’re considering to replace him is.

One of our most reliable, proven, inside sources emailed me tonight to let us know that Joseph Gordon-Levitt, star of The Lookout, could be in contention to be the next Peter Parker. Our source says the people in charge over at Sony were impressed by his performance in The Lookout, and that has him on their radar. And it should. Levitt’s brilliant in it. Actually, he’s brilliant in everything. He’s one of the best young actors working today. He also has the right build, the right look, and could easily step in where Tobey Maguire has already tread.

Till now, a lot of the focus for who might replace Maguire if he leaves has been on Jake Gyllenhaal. He’s the obvious choice for the part, but he’s also more famous and more expensive. Levitt is cheaper, younger, and you know what… he’s a much better fit than Jake Gyllenahaal. For the first time I can actually imagine someone being better at playing Peter Parker than Tobey Maguire. That’s how good he is.

Of course everything depends on what Maguire decides to do. If he ends up sticking around, this discussion is moot. Even if he doesn’t, for now this should only be considered a rumor. Joseph Gordon-Levitt is only in contention for the part, we’re not saying he has it. No one does, until Tobey makes up his mind.


News by Josh Tyler.
Admin , July 16, 2007
Joe Levitt, Mr. Indie!
Joe is Spidey???
That seems to be the second time I asked that question!

Anyway, Jan, thanks again for the post, I want to add this here in his profile, for we keep on getting more and more hits of joe's profile page. We'll also be cvreating a separate sub-directory for him, it's about time!


Your quite welcome Jed! Great idea about adding this bit of info in Joe's profile here. It's also great to hear that his profile has become popular here on tMF...its no surprise why it is--both because of the great written profile itself, and for Joe's great acting!

As for Joe taking over the Spiderman role and franchise....I admit to maybe having somewhat mixed feelings, but I also trust that Joe will certainly make the right decision for himself and his career.

True, Jake Gyllenhaal has been talked about the most, as far as maybe taking over the Spiderman role, who knows....Jake was waiting in the wings at one time a few years ago, when Maguire injured his back. If I may mention, in the article you quoted, when the interviewer say's that Levitt is cheaper and younger to get....well it sort of struck me funny when I read that cause in actuality, Joe is only ONE year younger than what Jake is (thanks to IMDb biography)! smilies/wink.gif

It will certainly be interesting to see if the new Spidey will be Jake, Joe, or someone else....

Let me also say thanks to Kat for writing such a great profile here on Joe Levitt!

I also enjoyed watching the You Tube vid with Joe talking about The Lookout, thanks. It so happens its not long ago I listened to the really great SlashFilm interview as well, and its really interesting. I'll have to take another listen to it again, thanks for posting it.

I believe if I'm not mistaken, alot of the bank scenes in The Lookout, were shot here in Canada (Winnipeg)....and the actors minded the cold during filming, LOL! Big babies, LOL!

I have not had the opportunity to see Joe in The Lookout yet, but I certainly hope to. I recently read something a critic said, that I thought was a bit uncalled for (nothing about the actors)....This critic said in the Lookout movie itself, that if the bank gave a janitor job to Joe's character (a person with a brain injury), that the bank deserved to get robbed! :x

Joe supposedly spent time with people who had suffered traumatic brain injuries. Here is an excerpt from a really great interview:

Joseph Gordon-Levitt: I started by hanging out with people who had been through similar things. With some of them, you could tell right away that they were suffering from a brain injury. With others, you couldn't. And it seems like it fits the script better if you couldn't. And so the guys that I spent the most time with were mostly just like hanging out with anybody else, except for certain moments when you'd realize, "Okay, that just reminded me that your brain doesn't work the same way mine works. You've been through something I haven't been through." It's something I've discovered while preparing for movies like this one and Manic, when I have characters who have unique traits that I need to research. You can read about these [medical conditions] all you want, but once you spend time with [the afflicted], you start recognizing them as individuals, as opposed to lumping them in with everybody else who might have those symptoms.


Joe's last statement is quite profound and endearing on his part I must say, that he was able to come to such a mature conclusion.

Another new project Joe also recently signed on for is 'The Frog King,' based on novel I believe, and scheduled for 2009. It's a story about publishing, and his relationship with a woman.
Jan , July 17, 2007
Joe digs Pearl Jam!
Just discovered this MTV interview of Joe, its probably one of my favorite interviews of him, so far, that is...

Excerpts:

MTV: As part of your preparation, you refused to listen to any music other than Pearl Jam during the months you were filming "The Lookout." Why was that important to you?

Joseph Gordon-Levitt: Well, it wasn't so much that the character only listens to Pearl Jam; it was me. Music is a big part of figuring out who the character is for me, and movie sets are these logistical nightmares where there is so much distracting stuff going on. I have to put in some music just to keep focused.

MTV: Why Pearl Jam?

Gordon-Levitt: I always design an arsenal of songs to go with every character I play, and I had never done it before with only picking one band. But for some reason, just because [the character's] mind goes in circles, [it seemed appropriate]. Having one voice in my head the whole three months we were shooting worked, and that voice was Eddie Vedder.


Joe at MTV
Admin , July 25, 2007
New Indie Movie Project For Joe!
First up for Gordon-Levitt is "Uncertainty," the latest film from David Siegel and Scott McGehee. The film is loosely based on a script by Siegel and McGehee, who also are producing, with dialogue to be developed in collaboration with the actors.

The story revolves around a young couple faced with having to make an important decision, and the film is split into two versions of the same Fourth of July in New York, presenting a new series of unexpected choices the characters make.

Siegel and McGehee wrote and directed "The Deep End" and co-directed "Bee Season."

Shooting is under way in New York.


READ FULL ARTICLE FROM THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER
Jan , August 14, 2007
What Does It Take To Be A Star?
November 1, 2007

What does it take to become a star?

My advantage is that I know the system,” says Joseph Gordon-Levitt. “Big budgets don’t impress me. They might’ve done when I was 13, but I’ve been working since I was 6.” The almond-eyed 26-year-old veteran (his first gig was a peanut butter commercial) was a charismatic moppet in films such as A River Runs Through It (1992), and in the long-running TV sitcom 3rd Rock from the Sun. Recently, however, the Hollywood local (he grew up in a part of town near to the sign itself) has become a brooding Method heavyweight, generating heat and earning kudos for his intricate turns as a wounded street hustler in Mysterious Skin (2004), an adolescent gumshoe in Brick (2005), and a brain-damaged janitor in the heist movie The Lookout. So don’t expect to see him in a big-budget summer blockbuster anytime soon. “Success is not important to me, nor are power or money,” he says. “If the script feels good, then I’m in. It’s that simple.”


Source: TimesOnline.co.uk
Jan , November 04, 2007
Could be next to hold the mantle of Joker
With no disrespect to the late and wonderfully talented Heath Ledger...................I think Joseph Gordon-Levitt has the look, the acting skills and the respect for heath to (if it is in the plans to be done) play the joker in the next Bat-Sequel.
Tom-E , February 14, 2008
A good role only to be outdone if!!
If there was a way that the public could see that Heath ledger can be out acted (hard but look at what happened to Jack Nicholson) in his awesome role as the joker, I personally with others to agree that only Joseph Gordon-Levitt could pull it off. Again as said by Tom-E he has the skills and this is the only true way to put them to highest test. It would also be cool to see a trio of The Joker, Scarecrow and Two Face, take over Gotham together (for a short time)and have Batman try and take it back. now that would be a topping movie worth seeing. I hope we can get the writers and the public to agree and make this dream come true, it shouldn’t be hard, like I said Jack was out acted why cant Heath Ledger. Note that I respect that it was his dying role and he did the best job I’ve seen yet of the Joker, but they didn’t kill off the character, so the story is not over for the famous character villain. Deffintly not in my eyes. Please do this role Joseph Gordon-Levitt, were counting on you.
J
Josh , July 24, 2008
...
he is so cute is he related to heath ledger cuz they look so alike
katelyn , August 16, 2008

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