Rian Johnson Sees Joseph Gordon-Levitt As A Modern Day Laurence Olivier
Artists draw inspiration and information from wherever it can be found. For example, the narrative of James Cameron's "Avatar: The Way of Water" was influenced by his desire to be a more present father, but that's behind-the-camera work. What about in front of it? What gets an actor into the right frame of mind to be a vigilante detective or a serial killer? Well, that's all down to their method and, thankfully, we're not talking about the method method, because that kind of chaos doesn't need any more of a spotlight than it already has.
Consider Joseph Gordon-Levitt, whose acting credits include "Inception" and "(500) Days of Summer" and almost everything Rian Johnson has ever directed. His method of creation is so specific and so consistent that Johnson was able to pinpoint the perfect way to harness his skill and all it takes is a quick trip down to the costume and makeup departments. Well, it's a little bit more than that but you get the idea. Anyway, here's why Johnson believes that Gordon-Levitt's acting style makes him a classic performer in a modern world.
Joseph Gordon-Levitt is a technical talent
In a video essay for GQ, entitled "Director Rian Johnson Breaks Down His Most Iconic Films," Johnson shared his experience with Joseph Gordon-Levitt's acting style as he perceived it during production on "Looper," saying that his performance is very much informed by technical work, such as physical presence and costuming. Johnson said:
"I wanted Joe to look more like Bruce. I thought it would be fun. Like, we're making a sci-fi movie, let's go for it ... and also Joe is an actor who, in my experience, he's kind of an old-school Laurence Olivier style actor, where he kind of works from the outside to find the inside. He finds the voice, he finds the posture, he finds the costume, and that helps him find his way to the inner core of who the character is. So the notion of starting with literally a new face, where in the morning he would get out of makeup and look in the mirror and be looking at someone completely different was really appealing to him, and felt like the kind of fun swing that we could try with this."
You know what? This might actually explain why we haven't seen Gordon-Levitt appear in a modern superhero film (we both know that "The Dark Knight Rises" doesn't count. That's Christopher Nolan stuff, which is practically its own genre), as so much of that particular medium is produced after principal photography the via CGI. It's just not how the guy operates, it seems. It might prevent him from doing certain kinds of work but, hey, there are worse people to be compared to than Laurence Olivier.