Like Gordon-Levitt, his character, Josh Corman, cherishes an unfulfilled ambition of becoming a rock star.
(Gordon-Levitt himself sings and plays guitar.) Unlike Gordon-Levitt, Josh has failed thus far to accomplish his dreams, having given up on music to become a fifth grade public-school teacher.
And Josh has another companion, whose presence Gordon-Levitt takes pains to highlight without stigmatizing: deep-seated anxiety that occasionally leaves him panicked and gasping for breath.
In other words, it’s no accident that Josh Corman — Gordon-Levitt’s first regular role on a scripted TV series in two decades — and Joseph Gordon have such similar sounding names.“When I’m playing Josh, I don’t have to think about what to do,†he said in a recent video call from New Zealand, where he had been living with his family since October.LIKE HIS CHARACTER IN “MR.CORMAN,†Gordon-Levitt grew up in the San Fernando Valley, in Los Angeles.
Zemeckis, who directed Gordon-Levitt as the French high-wire artist Philippe Petit in “The Walk†in 2015, said that Gordon-Levitt had a singular commitment to immersion.So, on the new series he made the takes longer, letting the actors breathe and improvise.Corman’ than most shows and movies,†Gordon-Levitt said.
“The Kiwi crew was so sweet — the only problem was they would pronounce ‘yes’ like ‘yeese,’†Castro said, noting he picked up the habit himself.On the subject of mental health, it was important to Gordon-Levitt that “Mr.“We wanted to normalize it and show a guy who has a relatively secure and safe life, and yet here he is wrestling with anxiety,†he said, adding: “That’s normal?The show was also an opportunity for him to present a more complex picture of Valley life, particularly by showcasing Latino stories — like that of Castro’s character, a divorced young father — in an authentic way.The fourth episode (“Mr. Moralesâ€) is devoted almost entirely to Castro’s character and is one of two in the series that Aurora Guerrero, a Chicana filmmaker from California, directed.
“The approach to that was subverting what we tend to see in the mainstream when it comes to Latino characters — a white male lead with a character of color as a sidekick,†she said.“I felt so, so lucky,†he said, adding: “I realized, I’m the adult now