Hump Day Hottie: Joseph Gordon-Levitt

How often does a young sitcom regular make the successful transition to acclaimed dramatic film actor? I can't think of many beyond Leonardo DiCaprio's legendary ascendance post Growing Pains. But Joseph Gordon-Levitt, who first found fame as the youngest embodiment of a space alien team on Third Rock From The Sun has (to date) played his crossover hand well.

Like many young actors he started slowly with moonlighting appearances in a few indie flicks during his television run. In his first truly post-3rd Rock release he played a supporting role as a Mormon missionary in the gay romantic drama Latter Days (brief thoughts on that film). He followed that with a real 180, trading the shirt and tie for jaded hustler attire as the lead object of everyone's attention in the well received Mysterious Skin.

For young non A-listers it's all about raising profile and collective faith in one's own magnetism. There's few things that work quite so well to do that as a one-two punch of successful leads in buzzy films. His minimalist teen-noir star turn in Brick was a superb post-Skin career move, and should set him up well for lots of goodwill casting wise. You can expect he'll get a lot of opportunities to prove himself in the next few years. He recently contributed a memorable bit to Shadowboxer as a philandering careless doctor. 2007 brings him into theaters thrice for The Lookout, Killshot, and as an ensemble member in Kimberly Peirce's (Boy's Don't Cry) Stop Loss.


Other Blogs Talkin' JGL
Do you need more? Check out The Cellar Door names him as one of 2006's best lead actors. As Little As Possible talks about the JGL NY Times article and Jeffrey Wells @ Hollywood Elsewhere airs a dissenting vote on his latest performance. WOW celebrates a homocentric quote from Joseph Gordon Levitt and Savage Cats have something to say about that same soundbite. And finally, IFC interviews the man causing this spring blogging fever.