How Gordon-Levitt Transitioned from Child Acting

At the age of 31, Joseph Gordon-Levitt has appeared in over 30 films, from Angels in the Outfield to Inception. With his new film Premium Rush about to hit theaters, ET asked him about his smooth transition from being a child actor to one of Hollywood's biggest actors.

"There's certainly some degree of luck. I've been really fortunate," Gordon-Levitt said of maintaining his acting career over the years. "I just love work. I love doing it. So, I keep trying and focus on the movies themselves. I guess there's a lot of other stuff that can come along with show business, and frankly, that stuff never interested me very much, but movies are something I just very dearly love."

VIDEO: Joseph Gordon-Levitt Rides the 'Premium Rush'

Gordon-Levitt's co-star Dania Ramirez, who plays one of his character's fellow bicycle messengers in the film, analyzed his continued acting success as a validation of his true talent.

"It's a testament to your talent also," Ramirez complimented. "I think it's hard to maintain a career from a young age and continue to work. The only thing that takes you far and gives you longevity in anything is how good you are at it."

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Gordon-Levitt's narrowed-in focus on his career took on an analogous form for his approach to shooting Premium Rush, in which he rides a bike through the busy city streets of New York.

"It's nice because you only have one thing on your mind and that's: just looking ahead," the 31-year-old actor said. "In this day and age...there's always so much on your mind, so many...places your mind can go, but when you're on a bike, all of that has to go away."

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That dialed-in focus unfortunately couldn't prevent an on-set accident for Gordon-Levitt that required stitches after he crashed into a taxi that wasn't part of the set. Notwithstanding the accident, he said that the film dedicated itself to performing real stunts despite readily available computer graphics.

"I had four stunt doubles...and that's the cool thing. There's not a lot of fake, digital, CGI (computer-generated imagery) stuff in this movie. It's real people doing these crazy things on bikes."

Premium Rush is in theaters this Friday (August 24).