Joseph Gordon-Levitt
It’s funny how you can go from not seeing someone at all to suddenly seeing them seemingly everywhere; whether it be an old friend (or ex lover) on the street to a familiar face such as impressive actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt.
Up until now, JG-L is best known for his 6 year run on the clever sitcom 3rd Rock from the Sun. That’s bound to change if his post-Rock work continues on the same path it has been for at least the past couple of years. In 2005, he appeared in Gregg Araki’s film, Mysterious Skin, and gave a brilliant, captivating performance as a young hustler haunted by the memory of childhood abuse. I’ve never been a big Araki fan—in fact most of the films of his that I have seen, I’ve ended up hating—but I was reminded by all the critical praise the film received when I happened upon it at my local DVD store. And as a gay man, there’s always something fundamentally fascinating about any film with a young hustler in it, especially if he has the sizzling looks of JG-L. Needless to say, I rented it and really enjoyed the film largely in part to JG-L’s involvement but also because of Araki’s handling of the material.
It’s not long after that when I was attending a screening of the wonderful film The Squid and the Whale with a friend of mine. We were both intrigued by one of the trailers preceding the featured film, for a film called Brick. Brick won the Special Jury Prize at the 2005 Sundance Festival and is a film noir piece set in and around a Southern California high school. And who is its lead actor, this time with shaggy hair and glasses? None other than JG-L. And now that it’s been released, guess who’ll be seeing it in the near future? None other than Sir Randy.
My JG-L sightings don’t stop there. I was recently checking out NOW magazine on-line and in the April 6-12 issue, JG-L is the cover story. And having not had the time to pick up April’s Vanity Fair, I borrowed a copy of the Teri Hatcher-ed cover from a friend of mine to read. And there he is again on page 185.
JG-L’s next two projects look quite interesting. He plays a young, upstart killer in Killshot, a film directed by John Madden (Shakespeare in Love), based on the Elmore Leonard novel and also starring Diane Lane, Mickey Rourke and (the yummy) Johnny Knoxville. In The Lookout, JG-L portrays a physically challenged janitor who becomes part of a heist at the bank which employs him.
For many television stars, it’s often a difficult transition from the small box to the big screen. But while Joseph Gordon-Levitt may have spent some time on the third rock from the sun, it’s evident that was merely a launch pad for better things to come, challenging roles to conquer, and more fans to collect along the way.
Cheers,
S.R.
