Joseph Gordon-Levitt received much praise in 2019 when he starred as the c0-pilot Tobias Ellis in the action-thriller film 7500. In the movie, Tobias and the rest of the plane's crew, including his flight-attendant girlfriend, prepare for takeoff, but as soon as the plane is in the skies, terrorists take over.
Gordon-Levitt is also known for his collaborations with Christopher Nolan, such as Inception and The Dark Knight Rises. The actor has appeared in a ton of movies and TV shows in his career. Here are a couple of things you didn't know about him.
He Appeared In TV Commercials As A Child
As a child actor, Gordon-Levitt managed to land commercials for Pop-Tarts and Cocoa Puffs cereal. During an interview with Jimmy Fallon, he revealed that it was his parents who convinced him to do commercials. They told him that he'd get enough money to do anything he wanted.
The first thing he ever bought with the money received from commercials was a Street Fighter 2 arcade machine and his parents kept the rest of the money.
He Is A Francophile
Gordon-Levitt has confessed to being a huge admirer of literally everything about France. While at Columbia University, he studied Literature, History, and French poetry.
His love for France and mastery of the French language proved useful when he played the Frenchman Philippe Petit in the movie The Walk. The movie tells the story of 24-year-old French high-wire artist Philippe Petit, who managed to walk between the towers of Notre Dame Cathedral, as well as the World Trade Center's Twin Towers on August 7, 1974.
Accolades
The actor has been nominated for 32 awards across different organizations in his career. Thes include two Emmys and two Golden Globes, Sadly, he has only managed to win two.
He is only 39, so hopefully, he'll get to win more in the future. The actor hasn't received an Oscar nomination yet, but if he keeps up the good work, it'll only be a matter of time. There was some Oscar buzz surrounding his performance in The Walk, but sadly that didn't happen.
He Founded HitRecord
Gordon-Levitt is the founder of HitRecord, an online production company that makes it possible for creative artists to collaborate on different ideas. The projects are produced as books, short films, and DVDs.
Currently, the platform has about 80,000 members. It also produces around 1,000 songs, videos, text pieces, and artworks on a daily basis. Contributors to the platform get paid for their work and the company, which was founded in 2005, is currently profitable.
He Considers Himself A Feminist
In October 2013, Gordon-Levitt revealed that he was a proud feminist. He gave credit to his mother for this, stating: "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."
Gorden-Levitt joins a couple of other male stars who are proud feminists too. One Direction star Harry Styles has revealed that he is a feminist and so has John Hamm, Chris Martin, and David Schwimmer.
He Is A Director And Producer
Gordon-Levitt also triples up as a film director and producer. His directorial debut came courtesy of a 24-minute short film called Sparks. The movie was adapted from a short story by the author Elmore Leonard. Gordon-Levitt also produced the Broadway show Slava's Snowshow.
In 2013, he directed his first feature film Don Jon. Gordon-Levitt also starred in the film alongside Scarlett Johansson. With only a budget of $5 million, it went on to gross $43 million.
Voice Cameos
Many movie fans aren't aware of this, but Gordon-Levitt had a voice cameo in the 2019 Daniel Craig-led hit movie Knives Out. He voices Detective Hardrock, the law enforcement officer on the crime show that Marta's sister is seen watching when the movie starts.
Gordon-Levitt also had a voice cameo in Star Wars: The Last Jedi as an alien named Slowen-Lo. The rust-colored alien is seen informing the Canto Bight police about the presence of Rose and Finn's ship on the beach.
His Parents Were Both In Radio
While Gordon-Levitt has had plenty of success on the big and small screen, his parents had success in radio. His father, Dennis Levitt, worked as a news director for the Pacifica Radio station, KPFK-FM.
His mother, Jane Gordon, first tried politics. She ran for the United States Congress in California under the Peace and Freedom Party. She letter got a job as a program guide editor for KPFK-FM. It is while working there that she met Gordon-Levitt's dad.
He Began Acting At The Age Of Four
Gordon-Levitt has been in the acting business for quite some time. He joined a musical theater group when he was just four-years-old and ended up playing the scarecrow in a theater production of The Wizard of Oz.
By the time he was six, Gordon-Levitt would appear in numerous TV films. He was the go-to child actor at some point for TV movies. The actor continued getting roles throughout his teenage years. Basically, nearly his whole life has revolved around acting.
His Grandfather Was A Controversial Director
Gordon-Levitt's maternal grandfather was Michael Gordon, a director who started out in the 1940s as a dialogue director. He mostly directed low-budget crime thrillers before later finding fame through dramas, like Cyrano de Bergerac.
However, Michael found himself on the wrong side of the anti-communist hysteria of the 1950s. Given that he had earlier affiliated himself with leftist organizations, he was labeled a communist and found himself blacklisted from Hollywood.