‘Don Jon’ Is Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s Debut As Writer/Director, Film Gets ’R’ Rating For Sexual Theme; Versatile Actor Confirms TV Series As Next Project

Joseph Gordon-Levitt has come a long way. He's not just a lead star in "Don Jon" but also its writer/director. The movie gets an 'R" Rating for its racy content. 

In an interview with Deadline, Joseph Gordon Levitt, star of  "Looper" and "The Dark Knight Rises" shares his thoughts on his new movie, "Don Jon". It was already shown in Sundance Movie Festival early this year, and it took almost 9 months for a mainstream release.

On the time gap between Sundance and the wide release:  "I spent a lot of time finishing Don Jon and wrapping up this TV show I'm working on now called hitRECord. A lot of the work that needed to be done was clearance work in that opening sequence, all those clips from throughout pop culture. TV shows, movies, commercials, red carpet videos, music videos. You have to clear all of it and it's a ridiculous tedious process."

On the Sexual theme of the Movie and getting an "R" rating: "None of it was surprising. If you read the script that I wrote, at the very beginning, the first page is a note that says, "This is going to be an R rated movie." Even though there's lots of sex, I always intended for it to be an R movie. Because it's about pop culture and I wanted it to enter into pop culture and become part of that conversation. I always intended it to have that balance."

Gordon-Levitt insisted on the movie getting a wide release, despite the risks (because of the theme).  He narrates: "It was just something I felt. It's a movie about pop culture and how the media influences how we see each other and how we see love and sex and relationships. There's that thing, the medium is the message. I think that an audience would receive this story differently if they were watching a limited release movie. They will receive it differently when they are watching it in a big multiplex, after seeing commercials on TV. It sends a different message and that's the message I wanted to send."

On his next project: "Right now, I'm working on this TV show. It's not exactly conventional writing/directing, but it is directing and a lot of the same skills of leading a collaborative mass process and creating something. I'm having a blast doing that. The show is going to be on in January and it's turning out really well. I can't wait to see how people respond to it. I want to be a filmmaker again in the future. I don't know exactly what it will be."