I think one of the hardest things to accomplish in show business is for a child star to remain successful as they move from being the cute child actor to the adult actor. Off the top of my head….Ron Howard, Natalie Portman, Kurt Russell and Jodie Foster are some of the lucky ones that have been able to achieve this very rare accomplishment. Seems early fame for child actors is more likely to lead to a life filled with problems with finances, controlled substances and police incidents…not to mention finding successful acting roles as an adult. That being said….I think it is time to add Joseph Gordon-Levitt to the list of child star actors that have moved on to acting success as an adult actor.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt was born in 1981 in Los Angeles, California. At the age of 10 he was already appearing in very small roles in major motion pictures like The River Runs Through It with Brad Pitt. In 1994 he got his first leading role in a movie….Disney’s Angels in the Outfield which turned out to be a successful box office movie. In 1996 he landed a role in the television show, 3rd Rock from the Sun, which stayed on television for 6 seasons. When 3rd Rock ended he left acting to attend Columbia University.

After his time at Columbia he returned to acting. He starred in many critically acclaimed (but not successful at the box office) independent movies like Brick, The Lookout and Stop-Loss. In 2009 he starred in (500) Days of Summer. (500) Days of Summer gave him a movie that was a success at the box office as well as critical hit as well. He received his first Golden Globe® nomination for Best Actor for the role. Since that movie his projects have become more high profile. Over the last 3 years he has picked up another Golden Globe® nomination for 50/50, appeared in Christopher Nolan blockbusters like Inception and The Dark Knight Rises, and moved into action star roles in movies like Premium Rush and Looper.  And now to the rankings of Joseph Gordon-Levitt movies.