Joseph Gordon-Levitt

It is incredible how easily we come to feel intimately close with movie stars, as if we’ve known them since our elementary school days on the playground, or sat behind them in Spanish class junior year of high school, or perhaps are their second cousins. It is no surprise, then, that we follow their careers with such intense, emotional investment. We feel the utmost pride when they win that Oscar or collaborate with that prestigious director. We are equally affected by the box office blunders and Razzie nominations that plague our favorite actors, feeling sympathetic or ashamed, or even wanting to disown them in the hopes that they sense our anger from a distance and finally get their act together (I’m looking at you, Nicholas Cage).

For the past several months, one actor in particular has attracted my gaze and elicited a father-like pride with his latest and most promising career moves. When I initially conceived of writing about Joseph Gordon-Levitt, I was wary of presenting the idea to my fellow Cowl staff members. But instead of having to deflect the barrage of expected accusations of homoerotic obsession, I met a unanimous sense of admiration and what one Cowler confessed to be an unequivocal man-crush.

What is it about this almost evasive actor that deserves such worship, and from both men and women for that matter? The man could hardly be considered a star, and the majority of the praise he does garner seems to come not from an occasional film critic’s polite review, but solely from a quietly devoted fan base. For the most part, if you like Joseph Gordon-Levitt, chances are you’ve been watching him carefully for quite some time now.

After a series of brief appearances in films includin the lead role in Angels in the Outfield, the world became aware of Gordon-Levitt as a recognizable face with the television hit 3rd Rock from the Sun. That the show lasted for six seasons speaks to its immense popularity—but that’s really about as much as I can say. Throughout its run, I never once managed to sit through an entire episode. As for the then-15-year-old Gordon-Levitt, he always seemed to me an androgynous shrimp with an annoying face rivaled only by co-star French Stewart’s.

From there he went on to follow the path set forth for all rising teen stars, acting in the much-beloved 10 Things I Hate About You and becoming a second-tier heartthrob under the far-superior Heath Ledger. With that success on his résumé, Gordon-Levitt was at a critical point in his career. He could either sell out or recreate himself as a serious actor. Surprisingly, he disappeared from Hollywood’s radar, starring in a couple of Sundance Festival dramas before fully defining himself as a valuable indie actor with the fantastic, underappreciated Brick.

The real reason for all this unexpected hype about Gordon-Levitt comes from (500) Days of Summer, the hardly-indie-anymore romantic comedy that proved he could carry a whole film (Zooey Deschanel may have been cute, but also uninteresting) and be personable and attractive. As a result, we will inevitably see more of this face—fortunately he wore a mask in G.I. Joe: Rise of the Cobra, simultaneously collecting a hefty paycheck and forever distancing himself from that disaster of a movie.

Gordon-Levitt’s work on the Sundance scene is hardly over, but perhaps the wisest decision on his horizon is Christopher Nolan’s Inception, a wildly imaginative, big-budget film that could only signal great things for the actor’s future. If this trend is anything to go by, I have no doubt that Gordon-Levitt has an amazing body of work still awaiting him. I’ve known him long enough to know that he’s got a good head on his shoulders and he’ll keep making us proud. You wait and see. They grow up so fast, don’t they?