It says a lot about Joseph Gordon-Levitt that he can make even a sex fiend charming. The actor stars in “Don Jon,” opening this Friday, as Jon, a New Jersey stud who indulges in pornography up to 11 times a day. In fact, he prefers it to having actual sex with Scarlett Johansson’s character (say what?!). Not only did Gordon- Levitt write and direct the movie, he brought in Tony Danza — his costar from 1994’s “Angels in the Outfield” — to play Jon’s father. The Post sat down with the two to talk porn, workouts and, much to Gordon-Levitt’s chagrin, orgasm faces.
Was it awkward for you, Tony, to be directed by your former child co-star from “Angels in the Outfield”?
Tony Danza: Not at all. First of all, he gave me the job, so you’re beyond awkward at that point. Coming up to this movie, he had worked with three of the greatest directors working today: Spielberg [“Lincoln”], Chris Nolan [“The Dark Knight Rises”] and Rian Johnson [“Looper”]. When [Gordon-Levitt] was 12 years old on “Angels in the Outfield,” he was watching the director. So believe me, when he was on those big movies, he was watching the director.
Joe, did you always know you’d eventually direct?
Joseph Gordon-Levitt: When I turned 21, my birthday present to myself was a copy of Final Cut, the video editing software.
TD: Not to be overly paternal, but there was a certain pride I had for him that he was doing this. I remember getting the script and thinking, “Wait a minute. He wrote this?” I’ve always thought Joseph — Joe — is a great talent and a brilliant guy and a driven guy. And he can do a backflip!
The men in the movie rank the women’s hotness on a 10-point scale. What number are you?
JGL: [Laughs] Eleven.
TD: Well, if we’re giving out 11s…12. What do ya think of that?
It seems like you both bulked up for the movie.
JGL: He’s just like that! He’s just crazy fit.
TD: I’m in shape. What do you want from me?
JGL: This guy, even when I was at the height of training like crazy, we did a push-up competition, and he beat me. Barely, but he still beat me. I’m 31 years old, working out hours every day for the last 6 months, and this [62-year-old] guy still beat me in a push-up competition.
So what is an acceptable amount of porn for a man to be watching?
JGL: I don’t think there’s any rule.
TD: I just think everybody [should] wait until they’re 18 to do anything — to do marijuana, to do drugs, drink, pornography. Just wait till you’re 18, so your brain is formed.
JGL: It depends on the 18-year-old.
TD: You really can’t make a rule, but the problem is that while we’re thinking about this, there’s an 11-year-old going “dink” [gestures like he’s pressing a computer keyboard]. When I was a kid, if you wanted to get pornography, you had to raid your uncle’s stash of Playboys. Or you had to go to the store and pick up a magazine. You’re standing there with this magazine, your neighbor walks in. She looks at you like, “Huh?” That is a tremendous governor on behavior. You didn’t want to go through that. But if you could just press the button . . .
Joe, you make a lot of orgasm faces in this movie.
TD: [Laughs heartily.]
JGL: Keepin’ it classy, buddy.
How did you decide what they should look like?
TD: He watched “When Harry Met Sally.”
JGL: I don’t know how to answer that question.
Well, were you trying to make it funny?
JGL: Of course! The movie’s a comedy. One of the funniest things is just hearing the lines said in those phenomenal Jersey accents.
Tony, you grew up in Brooklyn — how would you characterize the differences between the two accents?
TD: Brooklyn becomes really [voice gets guttural], it’s down here, you know? It’s all the same, just the characterization is different.
JGL: My experience with accents in general is that everybody’s an individual. We’re not saying that everybody in New Jersey talks like Tony and I talk in this movie. Julianne Moore’s character is also in New Jersey, and she speaks differently.
TD: So there’s hope.