The actor who left his university to pursue his acting career: Who is Joseph Gordon-Levitt?

His full name is Joseph Leonard Gordon-Levitt, he was born on February 17, 1981, in Los Angeles, California. He was born to his father, news director Dennis Levitt, and his mother, program guide editor Jane Gordon. Growing up in the Sherman Oaks neighborhood, Gordon-Levitt has an older brother named Dan, who is in the photographer and fire-breathing business.

At the age of four, Gordon-Levitt joined a musical theater group and appeared as the Scarecrow in the production of "The Wizard of Oz" based on a novel. Later, he signed with an agency and thus began appearing in television commercials for "Sunny Jim peanut butter", "Cocoa Puffs", "Pop-Tarts" and "Kinney Shoes".

In 1991, he portrayed both David Collins and Daniel Collins in the gothic soap opera "Dark Shadows." The following year, he appeared in the drama film "A River Runs Through It" directed by Robert Redford. That same year, he appeared in an episode of the science fiction TV series "Quantum Leap". From 1992–93, he appeared in "The Powers That Be," a TV sitcom starring John Forsythe, as a clever young boy named Pierce Van Horne. During this time, he played Gregory Kingsley in the made-for-TV movie "Switching Parents," based on Kingsley's "divorce" from his real-life parents.

In 1994, he appeared in the Disney fantasy comedy-drama film "Angels in the Outfield" as an orphan who sees angels. Two years later, he starred as Tommy Solomon in the TV sitcom "3rd Rock from the Sun" for six seasons. Also in 1998, he starred as a gay teen Buddy in the episode "Eric's Buddy" in the TV era teen sitcom "That '70s Show."

In 1998, Gordon-Levitt appeared in a supporting role in the slasher movie "Halloween H20: 20 Years After." The following year, he starred alongside Julia Stiles, Heath Ledger and Larisa Oleynik in the 1999 teen romantic comedy film "10 Things I Hate About You" based on a play. The film was well received both critically and at the box office. Later, he voiced the character of Jim Hawkins in the Disney animated science fiction movie "Treasure Planet" (2002), based on a novel. Gordon-Levitt began attending Columbia University in 2000, where he studied history, literature and French poetry. He also became a curious French fan and French speaker. In 2004, he dropped out of school to return to acting.

After returning to acting, he appeared with Zooey Deschanel in the 2001 drama film "Manic" directed by Jordan Melamed and set in a mental institution. In the following years, he co-starred with Steve Sandvoss in "The Last Days" (2003), a romantic drama about a sexually repressed Mormon missionary who falls in love with his gay neighbor. Despite receiving mixed reviews, the film was a hit among most film festival attendees. In addition, it was barely able to meet the production budget at the box office.

In 2004, he starred in the underage drama film "Mysterious Skin" (2004), in which he played a gay prostitute and a victim of child sexual abuse. The movie, which was a healthy success at the box office, received great acclaim. The following year, he starred as Brendan Frye in "Brick" (2005), a modern high school mystery thriller. The film garnered critical acclaim and was considered a cult classic. The following year, he starred as Sam, a young judgmental missionary in the crime drama movie "Havoc" and as Dr. Don in the crime thriller "Shadowboxer."

He made his next role in the 2007 crime film "The Lookout" as Chris Pratt, a cleaner involved in a bank robbery. The critically acclaimed film won the Best First Feature Film at the 2008 Independent Spirit Awards. His performance also received positive reviews from critics. Between 2008 and 2009, he appeared in "Stop-Loss," a war drama film directed by Kimberly Peirce and revolving around American soldiers returning from the Iraq War. He then appeared alongside Mickey Rourke in the action thriller "Killshot," in which he plays a vagrant who partners with a hitman. Both of his films did not smile at the critical and box office.

Gordon-Levitt co-starred with Zooey Deschanel in the romantic comedy-drama "500 Days of Summer", a 2009 critically acclaimed publication about the making and breaking of a relationship. While the performances of both leading roles were highly appreciated, the movie received great praise and applause after its release. Additionally, he was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for his performance. In addition, it achieved a great success with the revenue it obtained against the production budget. It was cited by many critics as one of the best films of 2009.

He then played the villain Cobra Commander in the military science fiction action movie "G.I.Joe: Rise of the Cobra"(2009), the first movie in the series. The film, which received generally negative reviews, was a successful financial gain at the box office. On November 21, 2009, he hosted the TV show "Saturday Night Live". He co-starred Carla Gugino and Eric Stoltz in the film adapted from the 24-minute short story "Sparks", Gordon-Levitt's debut as a director.

In 2010, he appeared as Arthur in the science fiction thriller "Inception" (2010), directed by Christopher Nolan, alongside Leonardo DiCaprio. The film, which received many positive reviews, became the fourth highest-grossing film of 2010 with its revenue. Additionally, he has won different awards and nominations in various categories. In 2010, he was in the director's chair of another short film, "Morgan and Destiny's Eleventeenth Date: The Zeppelin Zoo".

In 2011, Gordon-Levitt began appearing in the superhero movie "The Dark Knight Rises," directed by Christopher Nolan, where he played police officer John Blake, who emerged as an important ally of Batman. He appeared in the film alongside Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Gary Oldman, Anne Hathaway and Tom Hardy. The film, which received positive feedback from critics, became the highest-grossing film in the 'Batman' series to date with its revenue. In addition, it was the seventh highest-grossing film of all time and the third-highest-grossing film of 2012.

He later got the lead role in the action thriller "Premium Rush" directed by David Koepp. He also appeared alongside Bruce Willis in the time-travel science fiction thriller "Looper," written and directed by Rian Johnson. Later that year, he had a supporting role as Robert Todd Lincoln in the biographical historical drama film "Lincoln" directed by Steven Spielberg. All three films were released in 2012 and the latter was a box office success. "Lincoln", on the other hand, was well received from critics and at the box office. Additionally, it has been nominated for many awards and nominations in various categories.

In 2013, he wrote, directed and starred in the romantic comedy-drama film "Don Jon", which is his screenwriting and directing debut. The film also starred alongside Scarlett Johansson, Julianne Moore and Tony Danza. The film was successful both critically and financially.

Gordon-Levitt played a new character, Johnny, in the sequel action crime movie "Sin City: A Dame to Kill For" (2014). Upon its release, the film became a box office bomb and failed to meet its production budget. The following year, he appeared as Philippe Petit in the biographical drama film "The Walk" directed by Robert Zemeckis. The film, which received positive reviews from critics, had low earnings at the box office. He later appeared as Edward Snowden, the National Security Agency surveillance infiltrator, in the biographical thriller "Snowden" (2016), directed by Oliver Stone. The film, which was released on September 16, 2016, also starred Shailene Woodley, Melissa Leo, Zachary Quinto, Tom Wilkinson and Nicolas Cage. Despite praise for Gordon-Levitt's performance, the film garnered mixed reviews and became a box office bomb.

In 2019, he starred in Patrick Vollrath's action thriller "7500", which had its world premiere at the Locarno Film Festival on August 9, 2019. After its release, the movie garnered mixed reviews. He received great acclaim for his performance. That same year, Gordon-Levitt did a small voiceover in the mystery film "Knives Out," written and directed by Rian Johnson. In September 2019, it was reported that Gordon-Levitt will write, direct, star in and executive produce "Mr.Corman", a comedy-drama series produced by A24.

Gordon-Levitt co-starred with Jamie Foxx and Dominique Fishback in the sci-fi action thriller "Project Power" directed by Ariel Schulman and Henry Joost. Released by Netflix on August 14, 2020, the film received both mixed and positive reviews. Later, he played lawyer Richard Schultz in the drama film "The Trial of the Chicago 7" written and directed by Aaron Sorkin. Released on September 25, 2020, the film received positive reviews from critics and was nominated for awards and nominations in many different categories.

In March 2021, it was reported that Gordon-Levitt will voice Jiminy Cricket in the adaptation of the animated musical fantasy film "Pinocchio" directed by Robert Zemeckis. The movie, which was released on September 8, 2022, received generally negative reviews. In 2022, he appeared in Showtime's anthology series "Super Pumped," based on the book of the same name by Mike Isaac, as Travis Kalanick, former CEO of Uber.

Personal life

While in college, Gordon-Levitt fell in love with actress Julia Stiles. The couple lived together at John Jay Hall. In December 2014, Gordon-Levitt married Tasha McCauley. The couple's first child, a son, was born in August 2015. Then, their second son, born in June 2017, was born. Since October 2020 Gordon-Levitt has been living with his family in Wellington.

On October 4, 2010, his older brother Daniel Gordon-Levitt was found dead in Hollywood, California at the age of 36. After reporting "ketamine poisoning and injury from overdose" as the cause of death, Joseph Gordon-Levitt openly disputed these claims. He founded HitRecord, an online collaborative media platform owned by Gordon-Levitt.