JOSEPH GORDON-LEVITT
IN NUMBERS
really about sticking to what actually inspires me. And, you know, the career that you end up with, is the career you end up with. It’s not even up to you.
10 Things I Hate About You
was a film that was embraced. Do you have fond memories of that?
I do, yeah. We had a wonderful time doing that movie, all of us. Part of why it’s so fun to watch is because we had so much fun with each other while we were making it.
(500) Days Of Summer
was another hit: a romantic-drama that subverts a lot of that genre’s conventions…
I love that movie, I love what it says about romance and about love stories. It is subverting a lot. It’s funny, I actually think that movie is often misinterpreted – and that’s fine, because I find that fascinating, and it almost makes for an additional, interesting meta story. People identify with the character I play because he’s the protagonist, and the story is from his perspective and so people think that he’s right. But I actually think if you try to put yourself in the shoes of Summer, the Tom character actually deserves to have his heart broken, and it’s sort of his fault. But it’s a funny thing about… just, life. We all only see the world from our own perspective, and so we tend to think that we’re right. And if something bad happens to us, we tend to think that it’s not our fault. That bias is built into the human brain. And you can really see it in that movie. You can see how Tom does that, and you can also see how a lot of people who love the movie do the same. They identify with Tom because the story is told from his perspective, and they get sort of protective of him. But, you know, he actually kind of deserves what he gets.
When you’re playing a real person, as in
do you approach the role differently?
Snowden,
It is different, because, for one thing, you have so much to go on. You don’t have to invent as much. When you’re playing a real person, you know how he dresses. How would he walk? How would he talk? What would his opinion be about that?
I got to meet Ed, and he’s become a friend. He’s a lovely human being. I met him in person once. I went to Moscow before we started shooting, and hung out with him for a few hours, and we’ve stayed in touch remotely over the years. We actually made a short film together that I’m really proud of. It’s one of my favourites that I’ve directed. It’s called It’s Only Getting Better. It’s this beautifully
animated rallying cry for optimism as we move towards the future, actually, which is interesting because Ed, you tend to think of as shining a light on the dark parts of technology and where we’re headed. But it was really great to hear him speak in a zoomed-out fashion, beyond the questions of mass surveillance, where he feels the human race is headed, and what role he thinks technology is going to play.
What we can expect from Aaron Sorkin’s
The Trial Of The Chicago 7?
It’s exactly what you hope it is. It’s an Aaron Sorkin courtroom drama. It’s the first time I’ve ever played a lawyer in a proper courtroom, making arguments to the judge and the jury. I was in heaven, man. The dialogue he writes is so good, and the other actors are just so fantastic. Eddie Redmayne and Mark Rylance and Sacha Baron Cohen and so many really, really superb actors. It’s just what you think it’s going to be. And by the way, it’s also incredibly relevant, especially here in the States. And it feels, actually, that there’s a parallel with reality in the UK where there’s this cultural divide. Here, it’s Republicans and Democrats. There, I guess it’s Tory and Labour… Whatever you want to call it, there are these tribes that are formed that are just at each other’s throats. Even though it’s a story that’s set in 1968, as we were performing the dialogue it felt so relevant to what we’re all experiencing right now, culturally and politically.
What about your Netflix movie with Jamie Foxx, directed by Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman?
After doing 7500, I was like, “I just want to have some fun!” [laughs] That’s what this job was. New Orleans, where we shot it, is a big part of the movie. The nickname for New Orleans is literally The Big Easy. This job was fun. Jamie is the most kind, hilarious, fun dude to be around. Dominique Fishback is a new, young actress who’s really the star of the movie. She is wonderful. You’ve read me saying it now: watch her. Watch her career. Because she’s incredibly talented. We just had a blast. It’s a big, fun action movie. It was a delight.
And finally, as someone who embraces new tech, where do you see the future of film heading? Do you think there will always be a big-screen experience?
I think there always will be a big-screen theatrical experience, just like there’s always actors acting on a stage in theatres. We still have ballet, and we still have opera. Traditions like that are enduring. Will it be the primary medium of our culture forever? No, it won’t. If you look at history, that’s always changing. The truth is, cinemas haven’t been the primary outlet of our culture for a long time. The golden age of cinema was in the late ’30s and ’40s. That’s when cinema was the most important hub of popular culture. Then it was television for a long time. Now it’s the internet, but it’s the internet behind glass screens, whether it’s on your laptop or your phone. That won’t last forever. Pretty soon, we won’t be carrying around phones anymore. We’ll be wearing things, or we’ll be surgically implanting things. That’s just the march of how media evolves. Wherever you go in history, as new media technology arrives, there are upsides and downsides to it, every time. Some artists do incredible new things with the new technology, and some artists don’t and they prefer to stick to the old technology. Some audiences embrace the new technology, and some audiences prefer the old technology. That’s just how it always go, and how it’s always gone ever since the dawn of civilisation.
THE DIALOGUE AARON SORKIN WRITES IS SO GOOD
7500 IS STREAMING ON AMAZON PRIME VIDEO FROM 19 JUNE 2020.