At 43 years old, Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s acting career is still going stronger than ever. But before we saw Gordon-Levitt’s talent shine in his best movies like 500 Days of Summer, Inception, 50/50, and others, he was a teen actor part of the cast of 10 Things I Hate About You. Funnily enough, the American actor’s friend thought he was way younger in that movie than he actually was, and I kinda get it.
In one of the best rom-coms of all time, Joseph Gordon-Levitt plays sophomore student Cameron who falls for a popular girl, Bianca, who can’t date unless her older sister Kat does. This causes Cameron to fix up bad boy Patrick with Kat. If you were to look back at baby-faced Gordon-Levitt in 10 Things I Hate About You, how old would you think he was? The Primetime Emmy winner answers that question on CBS News with a hilarious story of being believed to be younger than he actually was:
My wife was talking to her friend who was like, ‘Oh, Joe was so cute in that movie! What was he, like 10 or 11?’ I was 17!
I honestly can see where the friend was coming from. I wouldn’t say that Joseph Gordon-Levitt looked 10 or 11, but I would have guessed about 14 or 15 years old. But, they say the younger you look in the business can help you expand your roles. After all, Cobra Kai’s Ralph Macchio looked ageless starring in The Karate Kid playing a 14-year-old Daniel when he was actually 21 years old in real life! And hey, I’d rather take looking too young over looking too old any day.
With 10 Things I Hate About You just turning 25, it’s hard to believe where the time has gone. Other than Joseph Gordon-Levitt, a lot of prolific stars came from that movie like Heath Ledger, Julia Stiles, and Gabrielle Union. You can tell that Gordon-Levitt had a good experience making the teen flick as back in 2021, he posted a throwback photo of himself and the “wonderful people” he worked with.
Although, the 3rd Rock From the Sun actor didn’t always feel like he belonged in 10 Things I Hate About You. Joseph Gordon-Levitt actually tried to get out of filming the modern-day Shakespeare adaptation multiple times in order to be in serious films. But, his agent and other people kept convincing him this role would be good for him.
Luckily, The Walk actor stuck with the movie and said twenty years later he didn’t regret it due to the experience of having a good time with the cast. Plus, Gordon-Levitt got his wish to come true about wanting to be in more arthouse films for the Sundance Film Festival as he later starred in indie films like Brick, Manic, and Hesher.
It’s safe to confirm now that Joseph Gordon-Levitt was not 10 or 11 years old when he starred in 10 Things I Hate About You like his wife’s friend thought. On the other hand, I can understand the confusion as Gordon-Levitt really did look so young in that comedy. You can watch the 17-year-old Joseph Gordon-Levitt in the ‘90s teen rom-com on your Hulu subscription and your Disney+ subscription.
