Joseph Leonard Gordon-Levitt (born February 17, 1981) is an American actor, known for roles both as a child and as an adult. His career has spanned more than 20 years, during which time he has worked in at least 24 feature films, as well as a number of television shows and theater productions. Beginning in commercials as a young child, he went on to appear in a number of television films and series, namely a lead role in a television revival of Dark Shadows and a film debut in 1992's Beethoven. An appearance in A River Runs Through It followed. He gained a lead role in the television sitcom 3rd Rock from the Sun as the young Tommy Solomon, had a strong supporting role in the 1999 film 10 Things I Hate About You and performed one of the lead roles in 500 Days of Summer. After a hiatus during which he attended Columbia University, Gordon-Levitt abandoned television but returned to film acting as an adult, appearing in myriad independent films, beginning with the 2001 film Manic. Critically acclaimed roles in 2004's Mysterious Skin and 2006's Brick led to his being described as "one of the most interesting leading men in independent film, a thoughtful performer, simultaneously outspoken and introverted, who specializes in playing troubled characters at war with themselves and the world."