Actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt wants to inspire people to share their creativity, and in doing so, he hopes participants will feel supported and connected to an artistic community during the coronavirus lockdown. Weeks ago, when a movie he was working on got shut down in response to the pandemic, and stay-at-home orders were established, Gordon-Levitt took to his online creative outlet—the platform he created in 2010 when roles were hard to come by called HitRecord. “I wanted to be creative, and no one was letting me [so I said] Okay, I have to figure out something to do on my own,” he stated about the launch.
All these years later when the quarantine started, the 39-year-old actor posted a video saying:
“It’s easy to start to feel really scared and uncertain and anxious. And what I wanted to actually talk about, the reason I wanted to start recording this video was a way to maybe cope with some of those feelings and a way to maybe make some use of a little extra time at home. And that’s doing something creative—making art. It’s my favorite thing to do, and I feel like now’s a really good time to do it. And if there is a silver lining to this cloudy, cloudy moment we’re living in, maybe it’s that we can spend some time with fewer distractions and do some of the things that we’d all like to be doing more, like being creative.”
Gordon-Levitt committed to creating a new video each day on March 18th. But as the website says, “On HitRecord, people don’t just post their own stuff—we make things together. Whether you’re a beginner or an expert, whether you’re into writing, film, music, or any other kind of art, you’ll find our community a welcoming and positive place to be your creative self.” That is, creative types are encouraged to find projects that inspire them and then make a contribution whether it be big or small.
On HitRecord, a contributor named Endangerhood posted the “Life in the Time of Corona” project which invites people to: “Share any thoughts you have at this time, as we are all affected by the Corona Virus. You could write a journal entry, share a specific experience from your day, compose a poem, or write a letter to the world.” To date, 570 responses have been contributed.
In turn, when it comes to actors who are seeking a creative outlet, Gordon-Levitt suggests they select written material from those contributions and then use it for voice-over performances.
“To me, voice acting is one of the most satisfying creative things,” he says. “It’s not as demanding as acting on camera. You don’t need to set up a camera and look right and have the right set. You can just like kinda talk into the microphone, and reading out loud is just—I just, I love it.” He believes reading passages aloud is one of the best things actors can do to hone their craft because “the thing that really jumps out when you see a great actor is like, oh man, they really have command of their words. They can really take words off a page that a writer wrote and make them feel natural as they deliver them.”
Interested actors can jump right in and practice their voice-acting chops using the written passages posted in the “Life in the Time of Corona” project and contribute their voice-over interpretations. But the website actually has many other projects to choose from as well. Sometimes the creative community really comes together and ends up producing short films, animated works, and documentaries.
Gordon-Levitt has enjoyed a life in the spotlight since his childhood, making acting appearances in films like A River Runs Through It, Angels in the Outfield, and 10 Things I Hate About You. But many people associate him as Tommy Solomon from the TV series 3rd Rock from the Sun. As an adult, he starred in The Dark Knight Rises, Lincoln, and Snowden, and he’s twice been nominated for a Golden Globe Award for leading performances in (500) Days of Summer and 50/50.
Want to get your acting career started? Sign up or login to Casting Frontier and start auditioning today!
Related articles:
How to Be a Voice Actor in Los Angeles
When to Say Yes & No to an Acting Job
The Best Places for Actors to Live In LA
