Joseph Gordon-Levitt's 10 Best Movies & TV Shows

Joseph Gordon-Levitt has had an impressive career in both movies and TV shows, and what's remarkable is that he began his career as a child, and he's only really known professional success since then. Born in 1981 in Los Angeles, Joseph Gordon-Levitt began his acting career at the young age of 4, getting roles in TV commercials for Pop-Tarts and Cocoa Puffs (via NYT). At age 6, he started appearing in made-for-TV movies and later his TV career started to build, eventually leading to his breakouts in the 90s, in Angels in the Outfield and 3rd Rock from the Sun.

Since then, Gordon-Levitt has become a success story for childhood actors, and only increased his range and profile over the years, even getting behind the camera as a writer and a director. His early career saw Gordon-Levitt taking an interest as a romantic-comedy lead, but as the years have gone on, he's participated in darker action films and dramas with the occasional comedy thrown in for good measure. He can turn on the charm with a smile, and suddenly grow intimidating with a flip of his lips. It's that range that's seen him succeed in so many projects.

10 Super Pumped (2022-Present)

Travis Kalanick (7 Episodes, 2022)

Showtime's anthology drama series, Super Pumped, is centered around Silicon Valley and the economic and business wars that go on there. The first, and only season, focuses on Travis Kalanick, played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt, the co-founder and former co-CEO of Uber. It's a dramatized retelling of Kalanick's creation of the company, followed by his dramatic ousting in a boardroom coup. It's a kinetic and fast-paced show trying to cover every angle of the complex Silicon Valley start-up turned mega-giant.

Gordon-Levitt's turn as Kalanick is completely committed as the angry and unlikeable tech leader. It's almost difficult to spend time with the character. Gordon-Levitt does such an excellent job making the man feel like the worst kind of tech-bro, uncaring company leader, while he also struggles with his self-doubts.

9 10 Things I Hate About You (1999)

Cameron James

A modern retelling of William Shakespeare'sThe Taming of the Shrew, 10 Things I Hate About You, is set in a late 1990s Seattle high school where a new student, Cameron James (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) becomes interested in a popular girl, Bianca Stratford (Larisa Oleynik). He enlists the help of school rebel, Patrick Verona (Heath Ledger), to date Bianca's older sister, Kat (Julia Stiles), in order for the Stratford's father to allow both his daughters to officially date.

While Ledger and Stiles are the true leads, Gordon-Levitt is only one step below them on the call sheet. One of the best romantic comedies and best teen movies ever, 10 Things I Hate About You has stood the test of time, aging wonderfully. Gordon-Levitt is excellent as a young, somewhat insecure man who learns to stand up for himself. He shows tremendous growth throughout the film and has excellent chemistry with Oleynik.

8 Inception (2010)

Arthur

Inception was one of the first major dramatic action roles of Joseph Gordon-Levitt's career, appearing in mostly romantic comedies, family movies, and small films previously. In Christopher Nolan's mind-bending Inception, Gordon-Levitt plays Arthur, Dom Cobb's (Leonardo DiCaprio) partner who is in charge of getting teams together and researching missions for Cobb. Something like the producer for Cobb, the technicalities and headaches of Cobb's ideas are usually Arthur's to bear.

It could be a thankless role, but Gordon-Levitt injects a dry sardonic humor that plays well against Cobb's self-seriousness.

When Cobb thinks of something, it's usually Arthur's job to make sure he understands the problems that he will encounter. It could be a thankless role, but Gordon-Levitt injects a dry sardonic humor that plays well against Cobb's self-seriousness. Gordon-Levitt also manages some incredible stunts, showing off an athleticism he hadn't gotten to display in earlier roles.

7 Lincoln (2012)

Robert Todd Lincoln

Lincoln is not always listed among the best Steven Spielberg movies, his directing is often overshadowed by the literally towering performance by Daniel Day-Lewis doing some of his best work. Critically acclaimed, there is much more to Lincoln than Day-Lewis' performance, which is remarkable, and it's a film that deserves a pop culture reappraisal as an incredibly engrossing, funny, and rousing historical drama. Joseph Gordon-Levitt co-stars as Robert Todd Lincoln, the 16th President's eldest son.

Robert is a capable, dutiful, and beloved son and member of the Lincoln family, but he and his father have a silently bitter war that weaves through the film. Robert wishes to fight in the war, but Lincoln refuses it, knowing what it will do to his wife, Mary Todd (Sally Field). Gordon-Levitt captures the frustration of a young man trying to do right while constantly being thwarted by those professing to love him.

6 3rd Rock From The Sun (1996-2001)

Tommy Solomon (139 Episodes, 1996-2001)

While Angels in the Outfield may have been the first "big" thing Joseph Gordon-Levitt appeared in, it was his role in the cast of 3rd Rock from the Sun that really rocketed him into stardom. Gordon-Levitt plays Tommy Solomon in the science fiction comedy sitcom. Tommy Solomon is an extraterrestrial assigned to the body of a teenager and enrolled in high school, despite being the information officer and the oldest member of the crew.

As the oldest member of the crew, Tomy has to hide his "old-man" tendencies despite feeling most comfortable around seniors, even acting as a source of wisdom for his "father", Dick (John Lithgow). It's a role that requires a high level of skill to pull off successfully, and Gordon-Levitt, even at such a young age, is able to effectively make it seem like Tommy is really an older man trapped in a young boy's body.

5 (500) Days Of Summer (2009)

Tom Hansen

(500) Days of Summer is the type of film that doesn't make complete sense until the end, but when those final sequences of Tom Hansen's (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) expectations are put up against reality, and his rose-tinted memories are recontextualized, the film hits like a gut punch. The movie follows Tom's courtship, romance, and eventual falling out with the titular Summer (Zooey Deschanel) and is romantic, funny, heartbreaking, and ultimately hopeful.

There is a lot to love about (500) Days of Summer, but the whole film would work nearly as well without the puppy-dog innocence of Gordon-Levitt as the lead. He's the perfect amount of naive, sweet, and unfocused to make the turn at the end heartbreaking, but he's charming the whole time and has a distinct sense of self-worth that makes the audience root for him even when he's making mistakes.

4 50/50 (2011)

Adam Lerner

In 50/50, Adam Lerner (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) is a 27-year-old radio journalist in Seattle who learns he has a cancerous tumor in his spine and discovers that the survival rate for his diagnosis is 50/50. Adam's best friend, Kyle (Seth Rogen), helps Adam deal with the diagnosis and the two use his sickness to their benefit. Though on the surface he's pretending to have fun and take his fate on the chin, inside, Adam is terrified as the countdown to his surgery reaches zero.

50/50 is based on screenwriter Will Reiser's own experience with cancer.

Gordon-Levitt and Rogen are a fantastic pair with great chemistry both in the comedic moments and in the heartfelt ones. 50/50 is equal parts moving and funny, just like its title and Adam's diagnosis. It's an incredibly difficult topic to make jokes about, but Rogen's natural comedy stylings and Gordon-Levitt's sincerity are perfectly matched to deftly weave through the tricky plot.

3 Looper (2012)

Joe

Looper may take the cake as the most confusing time-travel movie ever, revolving around "present-day" contract killers whose targets are sent back through time by criminal organizations existing in the future. These killers are known as "loopers" and Looper follows one named Joe, played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt in the present and Bruce Willis in the future. When Young Joe is tasked with killing his older self, he uncovers a time-jumping conspiracy that could spell his and his loved ones' doom.

Looper is a difficult movie to even spoil with all its crisscrossing timelines, but it still manages to tell an engrossing and harrowing story. It's impressively smart, mixing science fiction fantasy with cleverness and ingenuity. While some may balk at Gordon-Levitt's "Bruce Willis" prosthetics, his performance mirroring the legendary action actor is incredible and conjures up a younger version of the man without feeling like a parody. He's lethal, cool, and unperturbed by the danger around him.

2 Don Jon (2013)

Joe Martello Jr.; Also Director

Joseph Gordon-Levitt's feature directorial debut, Don Jon, also stars the writer/director/actor as Jon Martello, a young Italian-American bartender who considers himself the "Don Juan"-type, a man supremely capable of seducing any woman of his choosing. When he meets Barbara Sugarman (Scarlett Johansson), he begins to recognize some of his addictive tendencies regarding pornography and sex and slowly works his way into a more rewarding and loving relationship.

Despite being billed as a romantic comedy, Don Jon is a much more dramatic look at love and relationships, and Gordon-Levitt includes quite a few surprises in the movie. Characters rarely end up behaving as they're initially painted, and he manages to create an insightful look into the struggles men can have in their most important relationships. At the same time, he delivers a nuanced and brave performance as a man who thinks he has it all together and is only lying to himself.

1 The Walk (2015)

Philippe Petit

The Walk is a biopic about the real-life Philippe Petit, a French highwire acrobat who did an unauthorized walk between New York City's Twin Towers in 1974, as the buildings were just about to open to the public. Combining Robert Zemeckis' love for visual effects with a beautiful story about passion, obsession, and freedom, The Walk is a breezy and inspiring tale. Dedicated to the victims of the September 11th attacks, there is also some natural melancholy in the film, creating a unique tone in the movie.

He mixes his usual charm with a formidable determination and turns Petit into a folk hero, but one who is totally human and approachable.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt's performance is one of the best of his career, and also one of the more unique, as he plays the jubilant, self-possessed, and wisecracking Petit. He mixes his usual charm with a formidable determination and turns Petit into a folk hero, but one who is totally human and approachable. Even better is when he's completely silent, out on the wire with his face flexed in a mask of concentration, fear, and triumph.

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