Joseph Gordon-Levitt

Joseph Gordon-Levitt Source: Askmen.com

Joseph Gordon-Levitt was introduced to me via 'A River Runs Through It' (1992) a lovely movie directed by my all-time favourite actor Robert Redford. At the time, Joseph (Joe) was 11 years old and already had that certain gleam in his eyes and witty smile that indicated that he would have a bright future ahead.

His next major star-turn would be on the small screen in '3rd Rock from the Sun' (1996-2001) where he played an alien with John Lithgow playing his dad. Not too shabby.

The next time I would see him was in 1999s '10 Things I Hate About You', a witty and smart teen comedy based on Shakespeare's 'Taming of the Shrew'. The movie also starred Heath Ledger and Julia Stiles.

It was at this time in his career/life where Joseph decided to make only 'good movies' and subsequent movie role choices reflected this as he starred in several low-budget, critically well-received movies albeit not successful at the box office.

In 2009, '500 Days of Summer' was released. I saw it twice in the theatre and many more times on DVD. It is one of the most original films I have seen in a long time - it is a breath of fresh air. A romantic comedy told from the perspective of the guy - the dialogue and acting is superb. My friends and collegues ask me why I like it so much, for me it is a movie which is true to itself and the audience is able to recognize its honesty; as a viewer you are drawn in and never feel manipulated by the film maker and writers. If you have not yet seen it, please do so.

In 2010, Joseph hit the big time, really big, with 'Inception' another truly exceptional and original piece of film-making by Christopher Nolan (he of 'Memento', 'Batman Begins' and 'The Dark Knight'). I know that this movie will be discussed for many years and could be a course taught in film school or any school for that matter. Personally, the action sequence near the end of the movie with Joseph is one of the coolest I have seen in any movie.

It has not escaped me that seeing Joseph play these many, varied characters, at times his expression eerily resembles that of the late, great Heath Ledger. In some ways their careers have mirrored one another. Heath too, in the late 1990s after making '10 Things' decided not to get trapped in the teen comedy genre and followed up with 'The Patriot'. Their paths met on the set of '10 Things' and Joseph embarked on a career which would have seen both actors probably play opposite one another again if it had not been for Heath's untimely death in 2008.

The latest news is that Christopher Nolan is considering Joseph for the role of the Riddler in the latest installment of 'Batman' if that is indeed so, we the movie audience will be in for a terrific performance. It will be sadly ironic for me if Joseph does play the Riddler and can only imagine and dream what it would have been like to have Heath, as the Joker, and he appear together in a movie again.