Joseph Gordon-Levitt doesn’t believe he’d be the Emmy-winning star he is today if it hadn’t been for his big break in 3rd Rock from the Sun.

The now 42-year-old joined the hit sitcom in 1996 when he was 14. At the time, he had already earned a few guest spots on shows like Roseanne and Murder She Wrote. He also landed a role in Angels in the Outfield. But nothing compared to the fame, stability, and steady paycheck he earned while playing Tommy Solomon for six years. 

“I am really lucky that I got to be on a popular television show when I was a kid, so I was able to pay for my own college, but my college was expensive,” he told ET in 2021. “If I didn’t happen to be on that show, I would have a lot of student loan debt…I think [I] have so much to be grateful for.”

With the freedom to earn a degree without any financial struggles and the reputation to land roles in movies like 10 Things I Hate About You, he managed to carve a place in Hollywood just for himself. After graduating from Columbia, Joseph Gordon-Levitt went on to star in blockbusters like Inception, Looper, and The Dark Knight Rises. 

The Former ‘3rd Rock From the Sun’ Actor is a Father of Two

Today, Gordon-Levitt is an actor, producer, and writer. He’s also a two-time Primetime Emmy winner. Aside from his career accomplishments, the security he gained from 3rd Rock From the Sun also gave him a chance to take a break from work to start a family with his wife of almost 9 years, Tasha McCauley.

The couple now has two sons, who they welcomed in 2015 and 2017. Gordon-Levitt has never shared his children’s names or faces with his fans. He keeps his family life private and considers himself “a protective dad.”

“My son, he’s just a baby, you know?” he told Kelly Ripa in 2015, shortly after his first son was born, per US Magazine. “So, he hasn’t made the choice to be in the public eye, and that’s a choice that I would like him to be able to make when he’s older—when he can think about these kinds of things and make that decision for himself. And so, for now, I’m just a protective dad, and I want to protect his privacy.”