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Joseph Gordon-Levitt on 500 Days of Summer
By Fred Topel | Image property of Fox Searchlight Pictures
(500) Days of Summer
They may advertise (500) Days of Summer as a romantic comedy, and it hits some of those marks. However, it really is a coming of age story. Joseph Gordon-Levitt, who plays Tom, the romantic lead who comes of age, explains.
Joseph Gordon-Levitt on (500) Days of Summer
“Yeah, I think that at the beginning of the movie, at the beginning of the story, Tom sort of almost has a prejudice towards an overly romanticized notion of love,” Gordon-Levitt said. “Or not an overly romanticized but an overly simplified notion of love. That’s the coming of age story that lurking behind this love story, is that he has to grow up a little bit and realize that love although is a beautiful thing, it is not necessarily a simple thing. He’s angry with her at a certain point in the story, but that’s the coming of age story. [Director] Marc [Webb] always says that (500) Days of Summer is a coming of age story masquerading as a romantic comedy. He said that to me a lot and I think it’s really true that Tom has to grow up. I think it’s his own fault that he’s angry with her, because she really didn’t do anything wrong. She’s very honest, and present, and I think by the end, he learns that and figures it out. And that’s his journey.”
The film is still romantic. Tom goes through some down times and learns that his old notions of romance may be false, but there’s hope for a better form of more realistic romance. “It’s really romantic. I think it’s a new romantic comedy, maybe a reborn romantic comedy. I think it’s sort of in response, in fact it’s explicitly in response to a culture where we’ve grown up watching a bunch of movies that are sort of, we know are selling us a false bill of goods and Tom suffers the consequences of buying into those sort of simplified, ‘Twinky romances.’”
(500) Days of Summer
The star of such intense dramas as Manic, Brick and Mysterious Skin, Gordon-Levitt wanted to bring the same sort of performance to (500) Days. “I wanted to bring the same kind of honesty. I think a lot of movies that called comedies sort of shook the need to be emotionally honest. ‘Oh, it’s just a comedy, we’re just trying to make people laugh so we don’t have to feel anything.’ And I think that’s exactly wrong.”
At the film’s more whimsical moments, Tom performs a dance number or looks directly into camera. “I love doing stuff like that. You don’t often get to break the fourth wall. Movies are so good for that, there’s a camera right there, why wouldn’t you look at it? For thousands of years of theater tradition, the fourth wall never was there, that’s pretty new actually, the idea that you ignore the audience is a new thing, it’s become entirely prevalent but it’s pretty new. I love kind of poking holes in that convention.”
(500) Days of Summer opens to theaters on July 17th.
For the trailers, poster, stills and more movie info, go to the (500) Days of Summer Movie Page.
Fred Topel
Sources: Image property of Fox Searchlight Pictures
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