Joseph Leonard Gordon-Levitt was born on February 17, 1981, in Los Angeles, California,[3] and was raised in the Sherman Oaks neighborhood.[4] He has stated that he is of "100% Ashkenazi Jewish" descent,[5] from a family that is "not strictly religious".[6] His parents were among the founders of the Progressive Jewish Alliance.[7] Gordon-Levitt's father, Dennis Levitt, was once the news director for the Pacifica Radio station KPFK-FM.[8][9] His mother, Jane Gordon, ran for the United States Congress in California during the 1970s for the Peace and Freedom Party; she met Dennis Levitt while she was working as the program guide editor for KPFK-FM.[8] Gordon-Levitt's maternal grandfather, Michael Gordon (1909–1993), was a Hollywood film director.[8] Gordon-Levitt had an older brother, Dan,[10][11] a photographer and fire spinner who died in 2010 at the age of 36.[12] Gordon-Levitt attended Van Nuys High School and graduated in 1999.[13]
Gordon-Levitt joined a musical theater group at the age of four and played the Scarecrow in a production of The Wizard of Oz. Subsequently, he was approached by an agent and began appearing on television and in commercials for Sunny Jim peanut butter, Cocoa Puffs, Pop-Tarts, and Kinney Shoes.[8]
At age six he starred in several made-for-television films. In 1991, he played both David Collins and Daniel Collins in the Dark Shadows television series and appeared in the film A River Runs Through It.[14] In the same year, he made an appearance as a boy who witnesses a murder in an episode of Quantum Leap. During 1992–93, he played in The Powers That Be, a sitcom starring John Forsythe, as a clever young boy named Pierce Van Horne. Also in 1992, he portrayed Gregory Kingsley in the made-for-TV film Switching Parents, based on Kingsley's real life case of "divorcing" his parents. In 1994, he starred in the Disney film Angels in the Outfield as an orphan who sees angels. In 1996, he got the role of Tommy Solomon on the sitcom 3rd Rock from the Sun. The series ran for six seasons. The San Francisco Chronicle noted that Gordon-Levitt was a "Jewish kid playing an extraterrestrial pretending to be a Jewish kid".[15] During the 1990s, he was frequently featured in teenage magazines. He also made an appearance on That '70s Show in 1998 as Buddy, a gay teenager who assumes his friend (main character Eric Forman) is gay as well, in the episode "Eric's Buddy".[16]
Gordon-Levitt has said that he made a conscious decision to "be in good movies" after returning to acting.[19] His films include 2001's drama Manic which was set in a mental institution, Mysterious Skin (2004) in which he played a gay prostitute and child sexual abuse victim, and Brick (2005), a modern-day film noir set at a high school. In Brick 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, with The Minnesota Daily's critic commenting that Gordon-Levitt played the character "beautifully", saying the performance was "true to (the) film's style", "unfeeling but not disenchanted", and "sexy in the most ambiguous way".[19][20] Another review describes the performance as "astounding".[21]
In 2001 Gordon-Levitt made his debut on the New York stage to excellent reviews in the Off-Broadway premiere of Austin Pendleton's "Uncle Bob" at The SoHo Playhouse. Gordon-Levitt starred opposite George Morfogen in the gritty two character play. The production was directed by Courtney Moorehead and produced by Steven Sendor.[22]
He starred opposite Steve Sandvoss as a young judgmental missionary in Latter Days (2003), a film that centers on a sexually repressed Mormon missionary (Sandvoss) who falls for his gay neighbor. He also had roles in Havoc and Shadowboxer.[23]
His next role was in 2007's The Lookout in which he played Chris Pratt, a janitor involved in a bank heist. In reviewing the film, The Philadelphia Inquirer described Gordon-Levitt as a "surprisingly formidable, and formidably surprising, leading man",[24] while New York magazine stated that he is a "major tabula rasa actor ... a minimalist", and his character is effective because he "doesn't seize the space ... by what he takes away from the character".[25] The San Francisco Chronicle specified that he "embodies, more than performs, a character's inner life".[15] His 2008 and 2009 films include Stop-Loss, directed by Kimberly Peirce and revolving around American soldiers returning from the Iraq War, and Killshot in which he played a hoodlum partnered with a hired killer played by Mickey Rourke.[19]
Gordon-Levitt played a lead role opposite to friend Zooey Deschanel in 500 Days of Summer, a well-received 2009 release about the deconstruction of a relationship.[23] His performance, described as "the real key" to what makes the film work, credits him with using "his usual spell in subtle gradations".[26]Variety's Todd McCarthy praised his performance, saying he "expressively alternates between enthusiasm and forlorn disappointment in the manner Jack Lemmon could".[27]Peter Travers of Rolling Stone said the film "hits you like a blast of pure romantic oxygen" and credited both lead actors for playing "it for real, with a grasp of subtlety and feeling that goes beyond the call of breezy duty".[28] He was subsequently nominated for a Golden Globe Award.[29]
Gordon-Levitt played a new character, Johnny, in the sequel Sin City: A Dame to Kill For (2014), described by the filmmakers as "a cocky gambler who disguises a darker mission to destroy his most foul enemy at his best game".[36] In October 2013, it was reported that he was one of the frontrunners to play Scott Lang / Ant-Man II for Marvel Studios' superhero film Ant-Man which eventually went to Paul Rudd.[37]
Gordon-Levitt's first film as director, the 24-minute-long Sparks was an adaptation of a short story by Elmore Leonard starring Carla Gugino and Eric Stoltz. Sparks was selected for the 2009 Sundance Film Festival to be shown as part of a new program for short films.[50] In 2010, he directed another short film, Morgan and Destiny's Eleventeenth Date: The Zeppelin Zoo.[51] It premiered at two houses during the South by Southwest festival in Austin.[51]
In 2013, Gordon-Levitt wrote, directed, and starred in his screenwriting and directorial debut, Don Jon. The film also stars Scarlett Johansson, Julianne Moore, and Tony Danza and it premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2013. Following the premiere, the film was acquired by Relativity Media and Gordon-Levitt stated: "I always intended this to be a movie for a mass popular audience. Everyone told me it was a long shot ... I couldn't possibly be more grateful."[53]
In September 2019, it was announced Gordon-Levitt would write, direct, star, and executive produce Mr. Corman, a comedy-drama series produced by A24 for Apple TV+.[54]
Gordon-Levitt created the platform in 2010 after a period of stagnation in his acting career. "I wanted to be creative, and no one was letting me [so I said] OK, I have to figure out something to do on my own." The company has $6.4 million in venture capital.[56]
On 6 November 2020, Gordon-Levitt released Hong Kong Never Sleeps, a collaborative short film paying homage to Hong Kong created on hitRECord, on his Facebook page. It features photos and videos he collected from Hong Kongers since August 2020, which some themed around the Hong Kong protests starting in 2019, and voice by actors he recruited in October 2020.[57][58]
Personal life
On October 4, 2010, Gordon-Levitt's older brother, Daniel Gordon-Levitt, was found dead in Hollywood, California,[59] at the age of 36.[60] According to the Los Angeles County Coroner's Office, Daniel's cause of death was "ketamine intoxication, with the injury occurring by intake of overdose".[61][62] Joseph Gordon-Levitt has publicly disputed the claim that his brother's death was caused by a drug overdose.[63][62]
In October 2013, Gordon-Levitt identified himself as a feminist, giving credit to his mother: "My mom brought me up to be a feminist. She was active in the movement in the 1960s and 1970s. The Hollywood movie industry has come a long way since its past. It certainly has a bad history of sexism, but it ain't all the way yet."[64]
In December 2014, Gordon-Levitt married Tasha McCauley, the founder and CEO of technology company Fellow Robots.[65][66] Their first child, a son, was born in August 2015.[67] Their second son was born in June 2017.[68] Their third child, a daughter, was born in 2022.[69] He and McCauley do not want to reveal any details of their children to the media, including their first names.[67][68] He lives with his family in Pasadena, California.[70]
McCafferty, Dennis; Alan Carter; Lydia Strohl (April 2, 1999). "Favorites of a Young Rock Star". USA Today, through Rome News-Tribune. Archived from the original on March 19, 2021. Retrieved July 9, 2010.
^ abcChonin, Neva (March 25, 2007). "Look out: his star is rising". San Francisco Chronicle. Archived from the original on March 19, 2021. Retrieved March 26, 2007.
^Wright, Andrew (April 6, 2006). "On Screen". The Stranger: Seattle's Only Newspaper. Archived from the original on March 19, 2021. Retrieved March 26, 2007.
^"Report: Joseph Gordon-Levitt weds Tasha McCauley". Newsday. January 1, 2015. Archived from the original on March 19, 2021. Retrieved January 3, 2014. McCauley's Twitter and Facebook pages say she is co-founder of Fellow Robots, a robotics company in Mountain View, California, but the firm's Web page lists only James Fahn and CEO Marco Mascorro as founders.
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