Scheduling Conflicts With Directorial Debut Cause Joseph Gordon-Levitt to Bail On Quentin Tarantino's 'Django Unchained'

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by Oliver Lyttelton
April 5, 2012 9:55 AM
5 Comments

It's looked for a long while that Joseph Gordon-Levitt was going to have a very good year in 2012. After major roles in hits "(500) Days Of Summer" and "Inception," and an acclaimed turn last year in "50/50," the actor has a number of major parts lined up for the coming months. He's leading actioner "Premium Rush," he's got a key, still-top-secret part in "The Dark Knight Rises," he's reunited with Rian Johnson for sci-fi "Looper," and he'll crop up among the ensemble cast of Steven Spielberg's "Lincoln." All that, and he's got his collaborative wet project hitRECord, and he's looking to get underway on his directorial debut, "Don Jon's Addiction," with Scarlett Johansson and Julianne Moore, very shortly.

But sadly, it looks like the latter has meant that the actor's had to drop out of another of the year's most anticipated films, which he had a small role in. Gordon-Levitt had been pegged for a minor part in Quentin Tarantino's revenge Western "Django Unchained," joining Anthony LaPaglia as part of a trio of Australian bandits in the film's later stages, but the actor tells MTV that his busy schedule, particularly when it comes to prepping for "Don Jon's Addiction," has meant that he's had to drop out of the film.

Gordon-Levitt tells the site "No, I'm not going to get to do that. I'd love to, but it just doesn't work. I've been in touch with Quentin about it, and it was so cool to trust me to do this little part in his movie. I would have loved, loved to have done it. He's one of my very favorite filmmakers, and he was really supportive of me directing, and that meant the world to me."

It's a shame, certainly, but it's not like Gordon-Levitt is starving for work. And it's not like Tarantino's film is light on A-list talent either; the picture features Jamie Foxx, Leonardo DiCaprio, Samuel L. Jackson, Christoph Waltz, Kerry Washington, Kurt Russell, James Remar, Don Johnson, Sacha Baron Cohen and RZA, among others. There's no word on who'll be replacing Gordon-Levitt yet, but we maintain that our original suggestion, "Animal Kingdom" stand-out Ben Mendelsohn, would knock the part out of the park. Filming gets underway on Gordon-Levitt's "Don Jon's Addiction" soon, while "Django Unchained" hits theaters on December 25th.

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More: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Django Unchained, Don Jon

5 Comments

| Reply
J | April 6, 2012 3:54 AMReply

As long as this doesn't mean that now, QT will play the part himself, we're all okay.
B | January 20, 2013 9:58 AM

Oh, how ironic this tweet is.
Mr Anonymous | April 5, 2012 12:40 PMReply

What? Sacha Baron Cohen is in this? Wait, what?!!!!!!!!!!!!

First time i've seen his name attached to this! How did he wangle his way onto this? Kudos! :D

His agent must be working overtime!
Christian | April 5, 2012 11:31 AMReply

What a bummer for Joe Gordon-Levitt! Tarantino is one of his biggest idols.
gonad | April 5, 2012 10:13 AMReply

The young lead from Snowtown, Lucas Pittaway, would be a good pick.