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IMDbPro

Joseph Gordon-Levitt

  • Actor
  • Producer
  • Writer
IMDbProStarmeter
Top 5,00026
Joseph Gordon-Levitt
IMDb catches up with 'Flora and Son' director John Carney and stars Eve Hewson, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and Jack Reynor at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival. Eve, Joseph, and Jack share what they admire most about their characters and John reveals which movie musicals inspired him growing up, including 'Singin' in the Rain.'
Play clip3:48
Why Joseph Gordon-Levitt Wrote a Letter to Be Cast in 'Flora and Son'
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Joseph Leonard Gordon-Levitt was born February 17, 1981 in Los Angeles, California, to Jane Gordon and Dennis Levitt. Joseph was raised in a Jewish family with his late older brother, Dan Gordon-Levitt, who passed away in October 2010. His parents worked for the Pacifica Radio station KPFK-FM and his maternal grandfather, Michael Gordon, had been a well-known movie director. Joseph first became well known for his starring role on NBC's award-winning comedy series 3rd Rock from the Sun (1996). During his six seasons on the show, he won two YoungStar Awards and also shared in three Screen Actors Guild Award® nominations for Outstanding Performance by a Comedy Series Ensemble.

Prior to his success on television, Joseph had already worked steadily in feature films. Early in his career, he won a Young Artist Award for his first major role, in Robert Redford's drama A River Runs Through It (1992). During the 1990s, he also co-starred in the films Angels in the Outfield (1994), The Juror (1996), Halloween H20: 20 Years Later (1998), a well-reviewed slasher sequel, and 10 Things I Hate About You (1999), opposite Heath Ledger, which has become a teen comedy classic.

Following his work on 3rd Rock, Joseph took time off from acting to attend Columbia University. In the early 2000s, he broke from the mold of his television and film comedy supporting roles by appearing in a string of intense dramatic parts, mostly in smaller, independent films, such as Manic (2001), with Don Cheadle; Mysterious Skin (2004), for writer/director Gregg Araki; Rian Johnson's award-winning debut, dramatic thriller Brick (2005) (2005); Lee Daniels' Shadowboxer (2005); the crime drama The Lookout (2007), which marked Scott Frank's directorial debut; John Madden's Killshot (2008), with Diane Lane and Mickey Rourke; Spike Lee's World War II film Miracle at St. Anna (2008); and the controversial drama Stop-Loss (2008), in which he starred with Ryan Phillippe, under the direction of Kimberly Peirce. By 2009, Joseph was officially established as one a new generation of leading men with his Golden Globe-nominated role in Marc Webb's comedy-drama 500 Days of Summer (2009), also starring Zooey Deschanel , for which he received Golden Globe, Independent Spirit Award and People's Choice Award nominations. He also adapted the Elmore Leonard short story Sparks (2009) into a 24-minute short film that he directed, which screened at the Sundance Film Festival.

Beginning the new decade, he headlined the indie drama Hesher (2010) and established himself as an action star in Christopher Nolan's Inception (2010), also starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Marion Cotillard and Ellen Page. Balancing both independent and Hollywood film, Joseph scored another Golden Globe nod for the cancer drama 50/50 (2011), directed by Jonathan Levine and also starring Seth Rogen, Anna Kendrick, and Bryce Dallas Howard. He worked again with director Nolan on The Dark Knight Rises (2012), the third and final installment in the director's Batman series, for which he received a People's Choice Award nomination for Favorite Movie Actor; and snagged leading roles in both Premium Rush (2012), directed by David Koepp, and Looper (2012), reuniting with his Brick director, Rian Johnson, opposite Bruce Willis and Emily Blunt. Rounding out the year, he played Abraham Lincoln's son Robert in Steven Spielberg's Oscar-nominated Lincoln (2012), with Daniel Day-Lewis and Sally Field.

In 2013, Gordon-Levitt starred in his critically-acclaimed feature film directorial debut, Don Jon (2013), from a script he wrote, opposite Scarlett Johansson and Julianne Moore. He was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award for "Best First Screenplay" for the film. He also provided the voice of Jiro Horikoshi in the 2014 English-language version of Hayao Miyazaki's Academy Award-nominated animated feature The Wind Rises (2013), and appeared in Robert Rodriguez and Frank Miller's Sin City: A Dame to Kill For (2014), in which he played Johnny, a character Miller created for the film. In 2015, he starred in The Walk (2015), directed by Robert Zemeckis, and in which he portrayed Philippe Pettit, and in 2016 headlined Oliver Stone's Snowden (2016).

Joseph has completed production on Project Power (2020), Henry Joost/Ariel Schulman sci-fi film for Netflix, in which he stars opposite Jamie Foxx, and on the independent thriller, 7500 (2019), written and directed by Patrick Vollarth. Among his other projects, he will play attorney Richard Schultz in Aaron Sorkin's The Trial of the Chicago 7 (2020), and is in development on a variety of feature films including Fraggle Rock.

Joseph has also founded and directs hitRECord, an open collaborative production. hitRECord creates and develops art and media collectively using their website where anyone with an internet connection can upload their records, download and remix others' records, and work on projects together. When the results of these RECords are produced and make a profit, hitRECord splits the profits 50/50 with everybody who contributed to the final production. hitRECord has published books, put out records, gone on tour and has screened their work at major festivals including Sundance and TIFF. The half-hour variety program, "Hit Record on TV with Joseph Gordon-Levitt," which includes short films, live performances, music, animation, conversation and more, earned an Emmy Award for Creative Achievement in Interactive Media - Social TV Experience. hitRECord's project, "Band Together with Logic," is a one-hour YouTube Originals special that sees Grammy-nominated rapper Logic open up his creative process like never before, inviting the world to collaborate with him on an original song and music video.

In 2016, the ACLU honored Gordon-Levitt with their annual Bill of Rights Award for furthering diversity efforts, promoting free speech, empowering women and otherwise supporting civil rights and liberties for all Americans.
BornFebruary 17, 1981
  • More at IMDbPro
    • Contact info
    • Agent info
    • Resume
BornFebruary 17, 1981
IMDbProStarmeter
Top 5,00026
  • View contact info at IMDbPro
  • Won 2 Primetime Emmys

Before They Were Famous: Actors' Early Roles

Before They Were Famous: Actors' Early Roles

See photos of celebrities like Jenna Ortega and Noah Centineo before they hit the big-time, and revisit some of their earliest onscreen roles.
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Photos

Photos1875

Joseph Gordon-Levitt
Joseph Gordon-Levitt
Joseph Gordon-Levitt
Joseph Gordon-Levitt
Joseph Gordon-Levitt in Don Jon (2013)
Joseph Gordon-Levitt
Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Eve Hewson in Flora and Son (2023)
Heath Ledger, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and David Krumholtz in 10 Things I Hate About You (1999)
Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Larry Miller, and Larisa Oleynik in 10 Things I Hate About You (1999)
Joseph Gordon-Levitt in Pinocchio (2022)
Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Benjamin Evan Ainsworth in Pinocchio (2022)
Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Benjamin Evan Ainsworth in Pinocchio (2022)

Known for

Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Berenger, Michael Caine, Lukas Haas, Marion Cotillard, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Tom Hardy, Elliot Page, Ken Watanabe, and Dileep Rao in Inception (2010)
Inception
8.8
  • Arthur
  • 2010
Bruce Willis, Jeff Daniels, Piper Perabo, Paul Dano, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and Emily Blunt in Looper (2012)
Looper
7.4
  • Joe
  • 2012
Julianne Moore, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and Scarlett Johansson in Don Jon (2013)
Don Jon
6.5
  • Jon
  • 2013
Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Seth Rogen in 50/50 (2011)
50/50
7.6
  • Adam
  • 2011

Credits

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IMDbPro

Actor

  • White Night
    • Pre-production
  • Providence
    • Post-production
  • Beverly Hills Cop: Axel Foley
    • Post-production
  • Wingmen
    • In Development
  • K Troop
    • (rumored)
    • In Development
  • Poker Face (2023)
    Poker Face
  • Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Eve Hewson in Flora and Son (2023)
    Flora and Son
  • Kassian Shae Akhtar in Wolfboy and the Everything Factory (2021)
    Wolfboy and the Everything Factory
  • Edward Norton, Kate Hudson, Daniel Craig, Kathryn Hahn, Dave Bautista, Leslie Odom Jr., Janelle Monáe, Madelyn Cline, and Jessica Henwick in Glass Onion (2022)
    Glass Onion
    • (voice)
  • Tom Hanks and Benjamin Evan Ainsworth in Pinocchio (2022)
    Pinocchio
    • (voice)
  • A Forest Haunt (2022)
    A Forest Haunt
    • (voice)
  • Uma Thurman, Kyle Chandler, and Joseph Gordon-Levitt in Super Pumped (2022)
    Super Pumped
  • Joseph Gordon-Levitt in Mr. Corman (2021)
    Mr. Corman
  • Star Wars: Visions (2021)
    Star Wars: Visions
    • (English version, voice)
  • The Trial of the Chicago 7 (2020)
    The Trial of the Chicago 7
  • Jamie Foxx, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and Dominique Fishback in Project Power (2020)
    Project Power
  • Jamie Lee Curtis, Don Johnson, Toni Collette, Christopher Plummer, Daniel Craig, Chris Evans, Michael Shannon, Ana de Armas, LaKeith Stanfield, Jaeden Martell, and Katherine Langford in Knives Out (2019)
    Knives Out
    • (voice)
  • Joseph Gordon-Levitt in 7500 (2019)
    7500
  • Logic in Logic x Hitrecord: Do What You Love (2019)
    Logic x Hitrecord: Do What You Love
  • Joseph Gordon-Levitt in Endgame (2018)
    Endgame

Producer

  • Wingmen
    • In Development
  • K Troop
    • In Development
  • A Forest Haunt (2022)
    A Forest Haunt
  • Kassian Shae Akhtar in Wolfboy and the Everything Factory (2021)
    Wolfboy and the Everything Factory
  • Joseph Gordon-Levitt in Mr. Corman (2021)
    Mr. Corman
  • Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Logic in Band Together with Logic (2019)
    Band Together with Logic
  • Joseph Gordon-Levitt in HitRECord on TV (2014)
    HitRECord on TV
  • Bruce Willis, Jeff Daniels, Piper Perabo, Paul Dano, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and Emily Blunt in Looper (2012)
    Looper
  • Sparks (2009)
    Sparks

Writer

  • Wingmen
    • In Development
  • Joseph Gordon-Levitt in Mr. Corman (2021)
    Mr. Corman
    • (creator)
  • Joseph Gordon-Levitt in HitRECord on TV (2014)
    HitRECord on TV
  • Julianne Moore, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and Scarlett Johansson in Don Jon (2013)
    Don Jon
  • The Blue Dildo (2012)
    The Blue Dildo
  • Sparks (2009)
    Sparks
  • In-development projects at IMDbPro

Videos140

Why Joseph Gordon-Levitt Wrote a Letter to Be Cast in 'Flora and Son'
Clip 3:48
Why Joseph Gordon-Levitt Wrote a Letter to Be Cast in 'Flora and Son'
Joseph Gordon-Levitt | Career Retrospective
Clip 1:37
Joseph Gordon-Levitt | Career Retrospective
'Project Power' Cast Expose Jamie Foxx's Real-Life Superpowers
Clip 3:15
'Project Power' Cast Expose Jamie Foxx's Real-Life Superpowers
Joseph Gordon-Levitt on How '7500' Is Not Your Typical Action Movie
Clip 3:51
Joseph Gordon-Levitt on How '7500' Is Not Your Typical Action Movie
(500) Days of Summer
Clip 0:56
(500) Days of Summer
Miracle at St. Anna
Clip 1:36
Miracle at St. Anna
Miracle at St. Anna
Clip 1:15
Miracle at St. Anna
Don Jon
Clip 0:57
Don Jon
Don Jon
Clip 0:53
Don Jon
Don Jon
Clip 1:15
Don Jon
Lincoln
Clip 1:09
Lincoln
Lincoln
Clip 0:54
Lincoln

Personal details

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  • Official sites
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • February 17, 1981
    • Los Angeles, California, USA
    • December 20, 2014 - present (2 children)
    • Jane Gordon-Levitt
    • Dan Gordon-Levitt(Sibling)
  • Other works
    In 2001 he made his impressive New York City Stage debut in the critically lauded Off-Broadway premiere of Austin Pendleton's play, "Uncle Bob," opposite theatre veteran George Morfogen (HBO's "OZ") at the SoHo Playhouse. The production was produced by Rebellion Productions, LLC.
  • Publicity listings
    • 7 Interviews
    • 11 Articles
    • 1 Pictorial
    • 5 Magazine Cover Photos

Did you know

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  • Trivia
    After spending six seasons on 3rd Rock from the Sun (1996), he attended Columbia University in New York City. He studied history, literature and French poetry.
  • Quotes
    The whole concept of celebrity pisses me off. While I'm not a celebrity, it's such a weird concept that society has cooked up for us. Astronauts and teachers are much more amazing than actors.
    • Dimples and youthful, boyish looks

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