Joseph Gordon-Levitt has revealed years of experience made directing himself in a full-length film easy.
The Dark Knight Rises star made his debut as a director with Don Jon, which he also wrote and stars as a porn-addicted lothario in. The comedy-drama premiered in the UK at the BFI London Film Festival.
“I really got used to directing myself, making little short films and videos and I’ve made, without exaggeration, hundreds of them over the years,” the 32-year-old said on the red carpet.
“I love taking the video camera, putting the footage on the computer, cutting it up, scoring it, seeing what you get. You can learn a lot.”
He’s proud that the film is a conversation starter, adding: “It feels great to see what people make out of it. It’s supposed to start conversations and it’s going to be a movie people have disagreements over.
“It’s going to reach out and grab you and make you want to talk about it. I enjoy that. To me, the whole point of making a movie is to get people talking.”
Scarlett Johansson and Julianne Moore also star in Don Jon, which will be released in UK cinemas on November 15.
“I had Scarlett in mind the entire time, writing her part. And Julianne, honest to God, was my first choice. I was astonished and delighted that both of them really responded to the writing and hopped on,” he said.
Joseph also said it is “fun” to write the Don Jon Twitter account.
“I exclusively write the Don Jon Twitter account. It’s been really fun because normally you play a character and it ends there, but since I wrote this, I felt I had the licence to continue his life. It’s like a prequel to the movie.”
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