Jordon Gordon-Levitt has been chosen by Hasty Pudding Theatricals as the 2016 Man of the Year. Actor, director and producer Gordon-Levitt was selected by the organization because he’s not only a talented actor “but also a visionary entrepreneur who developed a revolutionary platform for artistic content creation and distribution.” Gordon-Levitt joins a long list of Man of Year honorees that includes Clint Eastwood, Tom Cruise, Robert de Niro, Harrison Ford, Sir Anthony Hopkins, Bruce Willis, Justin Timberlake, James Franco, Neil Patrick Harris, and Chris Pratt.
“No emoji can express how excited we are about having Joseph Gordon-Levitt as our 50th Man of the Year,” stated Bobby Fitzpatrick ’16, President of the Hasty Pudding Theatricals. “We anxiously await Mr. Gordon-Levitt’s arrival, as he begins his slow journey to the Hasty Pudding Theatricals on a small rope from LA to Cambridge.”
“Perusing the impressive list of past Hasty Pudding Men Of The Year, I’m simultaneously struck with intense delusions of grandeur and mild waves of humility,” said Joseph Gordon-Levitt.
Gordon-Levitt will be presented with the Pudding Pot on February 5, 2016 during a celebratory roast at Farkas Hall in Harvard Square.
More on Joseph Gordon-Levitt [Courtesy of The Hasty Pudding Theatricals]
Joseph Gordon-Levitt will next be seen starring will star in Oliver Stone’s SNOWDEN, in which he plays Edward Snowden, the American who fled to Russia after leaking classified CIA documents. He most recently starred in THE WALK, Robert Zemeckis’s feature adaptation of the documentary MAN ON WIRE, in which he portrayed Philippe Pettit, the high-wire artist who successfully walked a tightrope between the Twin Towers in 1974, as well as THE NIGHT BEFORE, opposite Seth Rogen and Anthony Mackie for which he reteamed with 50/50 director Jonathan Levine.
Gordon-Levitt’s additional film credits include: DON JON, opposite Scarlett Johansson and Julianne Moore, which he wrote (Independent Spirit Award-nominee for Best First Screenplay) and was his feature film directorial debut; the English-language version of Hayao Miyazaki’s Academy Award-nominated animated feature THE WIND RISES, for which he provided the voice of lead character Jiro Horikoshi; Robert Rodriguez and Frank Miller’s SIN CITY: A DAME TO KILL FOR, in which he played Johnny, a character Miller created for the film; Steven Spielberg’s Oscar-nominated LINCOLN with Daniel Day Lewis and Sally Field; LOOPER, for which he reunited with his BRICK director, Rian Johnson, and starred opposite Bruce Willis and Emily Blunt; THE DARK KNIGHT RISES, Christopher Nolan’s third and final installment in the Batman series (People’s Choice Award nomination for Favorite Movie Actor); PREMIUM RUSH, directed by David Koepp; 50/50, directed by Jonathan Levine and also starring Seth Rogen, Anna Kendrick and Bryce Dallas Howard, for which he received a Golden Globe nomination; Christopher Nolan’s Academy Award-nominated action-drama INCEPTION, also starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Marion Cotillard and Ellen Page; HESHER, directed by Spencer Susser with Natalie Portman and Rainn Wilson (Sundance Film Festival 2010); Marc Webb’s (500) DAYS OF SUMMER, also starring Zooey Deschanel, for which he received Golden Globe, Independent Spirit Award and People’s Choice Award nominations; the global action hit G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra for director Stephen Sommers; Spike Lee’s World War II drama Miracle at St. Anna; the controversial drama Stop-Loss, in which he starred with Ryan Phillippe under the direction of Kimberly Peirce; and the crime drama The Lookout, which marked Scott Frank’s directorial debut. In addition, Gordon-Levitt has received widespread praise for his performances in such independent features as John Madden’s Killshot with Diane Lane and Mickey Rourke; Lee Daniels’ Shadowboxer; Rian Johnson’s award-winning debut film, Brick; Mysterious Skin for writer/director Gregg Araki; and Manic with Don Cheadle. He also adapted the Elmore Leonard short story SPARKS into a 24-minute short film that he directed (Sundance Film Festival 2009).
Early in his career, Gordon-Levitt won a Young Artist Award for his first major role, in Robert Redford’s drama A River Runs Through It. He went on to co-star in Angels in the Outfield, The Juror, Halloween H20 and 10 Things I Hate About You.
Gordon-Levitt is also well known to television audiences for his starring role on NBC’s award-winning comedy series “3(rd) Rock from the Sun.” During his six seasons on the show, he won two YoungStar Awards and also shared in three Screen Actors Guild Award(®) nominations for Outstanding Performance by a Comedy Series Ensemble. Following the series, Gordon-Levitt took a short break from acting to attend Columbia University.
Gordon-Levitt founded and directs hitRECord, an open collaborative production. hitRECord creates and develops art and media collectively using their website where anyone with an internet connection can upload their records, download and remix others’ records, and work on projects together. When the results of these RECords are produced and make money, hitRECord splits the profits 50/50 with everybody who contributed to the final production. hitRECord has published books, put out records, gone on tour and has screened their work at major festivals including Sundance and TIFF.
Most recently, hitRECord’s community of over 350,000 artists completed Season Two of their Emmy Award-winning series “Hit Record on TV with Joseph Gordon-Levitt,” a half hour variety program which included short films, live performances, music, animation, conversation, and more.
