
Joseph Gordon-Levitt
Biography
Joseph Leonard Gordon-Levitt (born February 17, 1981) is an American actor and filmmaker. He has received various accolades, including nominations for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy for his leading performances in 500 Days of Summer (2009) and 50/50 (2011). He is the founder of the online media platform HitRecord whose projects such as HitRecord on TV (2014–15) and Create Together (2020) won him two Primetime Emmy Awards in the category of Outstanding Interactive Program.
Born in Los Angeles to a Jewish family, Gordon-Levitt began his acting career as a child, appearing in the films A River Runs Through It (1992), Holy Matrimony (1994), and Angels in the Outfield (1994), which earned him a Young Artist Award and a Saturn Award nomination. He played the role of Tommy Solomon in the TV series 3rd Rock from the Sun (1996–2001) for which he received three nominations at the Screen Actors Guild Awards. He had a supporting role in 10 Things I Hate About You (1999) and voiced Jim Hawkins in the Disney animated Treasure Planet (2002) before taking a break from acting to study at Columbia University, but dropped out in 2004 to resume his acting career.
Since returning to acting, Gordon-Levitt has starred in Manic (2001), Mysterious Skin (2004), Brick (2005), The Lookout (2007), The Brothers Bloom (2008), Miracle at St. Anna (2008), G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra (2009), Inception (2010), Hesher (2010), Premium Rush (2012), The Dark Knight Rises (2012), Looper (2012), and Lincoln (2012). He portrayed Philippe Petit in the Robert Zemeckis-directed film The Walk (2015) and whistleblower Edward Snowden in the Oliver Stone film Snowden (2016). In 2020, he starred in the legal drama The Trial of the Chicago 7, for which he won the Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Acting Ensemble and the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture.
In 2013, he wrote and directed Don Jon, a comedy-drama film that was released to critical acclaim, earning him an Independent Spirit Award nomination for Best First Screenplay. He previously directed and edited two short films, both of which were released in 2010: Morgan M. Morgansen's Date with Destiny and Morgan and Destiny's Eleventeenth Date: The Zeppelin Zoo. In 2021, he wrote, directed and starred in a comedy drama series Mr. Corman on Apple TV+.
Acting (76 movies)

Sin City: A Dame to Kill For
2014

Holy Matrimony
1994

10 Things I Hate About You
1999

Mysterious Skin
2005

Halloween H20: 20 Years Later
1998

Angels in the Outfield
1994

The Lookout
2007

Women in Trouble
2009

Stop-Loss
2008

Treasure Planet
2002

Miracle at St. Anna
2008

Brick
2006

The Juror
1996

Inception
2010

Shadowboxer
2005

50/50
2011

Uncertainty
2009

Havoc
2005

G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra
2009

Manic
2001

Latter Days
2004

Hesher
2010

Killshot
2008

The Dark Knight Rises
2012

Premium Rush
2012

(500) Days of Summer
2009

Morgan and Destiny's Eleventeenth Date: The Zeppelin Zoo
2010

Lincoln
2012

Elektra Luxx
2011

Looper
2012

Killer Heat
2024

Plymouth
1991

The Road Killers
1994

Don Jon
2013

Morgan M. Morgansen's Date with Destiny
2010

Sweet Jane
1998

Escargots
2006

Greedy People
2024

Gregory K
1993

A Forest Haunt
2022

Lady Gaga & the Muppets Holiday Spectacular
2013

Once Upon a Studio
2023

Picking Up the Pieces
2000

The Walk
2015

The Night Before
2015

Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F
2024

A River Runs Through It
1992

Dreams: Cinema of the Subconscious
2010

Comedy Central Roast of Bruce Willis
2018

Flora and Son
2023

Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery
2022

Hi Honey - I'm Dead
1991

Straight Outta OZ
2016

Snowden
2016

The Great Elephant Escape
1995

The Interview
2014

Changes
1991

Stranger on My Land
1988

Star Wars: The Last Jedi
2017

The Brothers Bloom
2008

7500
2019

Beethoven
1992

The Trial of the Chicago 7
2020

Band Together with Logic
2019

Project Power
2020

Forever Lulu
2000

Sesame Street's 50th Anniversary Celebration
2019

Knives Out
2019

Ending the Knight
2012

Lincoln: An American Journey
2013

Dear Class of 2020
2020

Vinegar
2013

Pinocchio
2022

Paradise Records
2025

The Simpsons: The Past and the Furious
2025

Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery
2025
Directing (8 movies)
| Title | Year | Job |
|---|---|---|
| Sparks | 2009 | Writer |
| Sparks | 2009 | Producer |
| The Blue Dildo | 2012 | Writer |
| Looper | 2012 | Executive Producer |
| Don Jon | 2013 | Writer |
| One Song | 2014 | Producer |
| Band Together with Logic | 2019 | Executive Producer |
| A Forest Haunt | 2022 | Executive Producer |


