I don’t think there’s a bigger, more multi-talented star in Hollywood at the moment than Joseph Gordon-Levitt. He’s a great actor, he sings, he can play instruments…and now he’s about to reveal his directorial/writer debut, in the form of DON JON’S ADDICTION.
In the film, JGL stars as Don Jon, a guy addicted to pornography. However, things may be about to change when he meets Scarlett Johansson’s character, a lady who has watched one too many romantic comedies. Co-starring Julianne Moore and Tony Danza, the film premiered last week at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival, with Joseph more than happy to talk about his first film ‘baby’.
When asked about his character and the situation he finds himself in (with inspiration taken from the literary character of the very similar name), JGL says:
“I wanted to tell a story about love and what I’ve noticed, and what often’s getting in the way of love, is how people objectify each other. They put expectations on each other that they’ve learned from all kinds of places, whether it’s from their family [Tony Danza plays Don Jon’s father in the film] or friends or from different kinds of media. And so I thought of a movie around a relationship between a guy who watches too much pornography and a girl who watches too many romantic Hollywood movies.”
Joseph then goes on to explain the reasoning behind his character’s personality:
“I thought that if that was the reason the guy’s watching all the porn [Don Jon is depicted as far from ‘not being able to get laid’] then it wouldn’t really bring out the theme of objectification I wanted to get at. But if he were a lady’s man, and he still prefers this one-way porn thing, that would really bring it out. I thought ‘Who’s a lady’s man?’, and that’s when I came up with Don Juan; that’s the classic archetype of a lady’s man. And then I thought ‘Alright, who’s that Don Juan figure today?’ and the first idea I had was like this East Coast, machismo guy with shiny hair and the gym body and everything, and I just thought that would be hilarious and it sounded like fun to play!”
DON JON’S ADDICTION, directed by Joseph Gordon-Levitt, is currently awaiting a general release date. We’ll keep you updated as more news comes in!
Source: Entertainment Weekly
