Joseph Gordon-Levitt hit the headlines again this week, with the announcement that he had signed on as a producer of DC Comics' movie adaptation of The Sandman.
While there are unconfirmed rumours that Gordon-Levitt may also star in and direct the film, the news that he is to co-produce the blockbuster with The Dark Knight Rises screenwriter David S Goyer is exciting enough.
In celebration, Digital Spy brings you 10 facts about this multi-tasking marvel.
1. Joseph Leonard Gordon-Levitt was born in California on February 17, 1981 to Jane Gordon and Dennis Levitt. His mother was a notable activist who ran for United States Congress in the 1970s, representing the Peace and Freedom Party.
2. Some would say that he has always been destined for Hollywood; his maternal grandfather Michael Gordon was a Hollywood director between the 1940s and the 1970s who directed the 1959 Oscar-winning rom-com Pillow Talk.
3. Joseph attended stage school from age 6, mainly landing small roles in commercials until he eventually won his breakout role in NBC sitcom 3rd Rock from the Sun.
4. Gordon-Levitt has demonstrated that he is academic as well as creative; in 2004, he started a degree in History, Literature and French poetry at Columbia University. To be honest, thinking about his many brilliant films, we're quite glad he dropped out.
5. Joseph is also interested in music; whether he's playing the drums or guitar, or performing 'Baby, It's Cold Outside' with Lady Gaga and the Muppets, his creative side definitely stretches beyond just being an actor.
6. Even though he played the role of Arthur in Inception so well, Joseph wasn't actually the first choice for director Christopher Nolan. That honour went to James Franco, who was unavailable due to scheduling conflicts.
7. Gordon-Levitt founded online collaborative production company hitRECord in 2005. Originally it started as a site where people could share videos and get feedback, but it has since expanded into a place to submit "hit records" and invite people to remix them. hitRECord's work has been featured at the Sundance Film Festival.
8. The actor identifies himself as a feminist, giving credit to his mother during a January 2013 interview. "My mom brought me up to be a feminist," he explained. "The Hollywood movie industry has come a long way since its past. It certainly has a bad history of sexism, but it ain't all the way yet."
9. Joseph explained in a November 2013 interview that he has his own concept of true love: "I would say true love means a genuine and unique connection between two individuals. What I think true love is not, is some shiny trophy that's the same 'riding off into the sunset' image that you get. If you think about true love as something that you're after, that you can have, you're missing it."
10. Despite being nominated for a variety of prestigious awards, Gordon-Levitt has been pipped to the post almost every time. We expect it was tough to miss out on Golden Globe and Independent Spirit gongs for (500) Days of Summer in particular, but at least he could enjoy being ranked #6 on Entertainment Weekly's 30 best actors under 30 list at the time.
