One of the most versatile actors in the business, Joseph Gordon Levitt moves seamlessly between comedy, drama and thriller. The actor’s latest film, Inception, marks the actor’s first science-fiction film.

Can you tell us a little more about the Fred Astaire fight sequence and the training that went into it, and about the zero-g situation in the elevator? You were great in that scene!

Thanks. It was just about the most fun I’ve ever had on a movie set. It was also, probably, the most pain I’ve ever been in on a movie set, physically. But, you know, pain in a good way.

What do you mean?

Like in the way I guess athletes must get when they have to put on their pads and they tape up their ankles and they get a little beat up throughout the day. But that’s just part of slamming yourself into walls and jumping around all day. I was really grateful to the whole stunt team - Tom Struthers, who Chris has worked with before. He and his guys really took me in and taught me a lot and let me do it, because I’ve had the opposite experience where stunt teams can be a little demeaning. Not demeaning, but exclusionary towards actors.

Yeah, I’ve heard that

To speak to your Fred Astaire comparison, I get a kick out of that because she’s talking about there’s this dance sequence in a Fred Astaire movie from 50 years ago? Okay, longer ago than that where it’s a similar effect, and I was thinking about it and I came up with an analogy. Because Inception does contain a similar technique, and it’s sort of how Sesame Street and Star Wars both use Jim Henson puppetry? It’s similar technique, but to very different effect.

What was the collaborative process like for you once you came aboard?

One thing I’ll say is that one of my favorite parts of working for Chris [Nolan] is that as well thought-out as everything was, he leaves room for spontaneity on the day, both from the side of the camera, that he and Wally [Pfister] work together in this very kind of organic way, and as well as from the actors. It’s nice to not feel like you’re just re-enacting a preconceived moment, but there’s room for an organic feeling to develop while the camera is rolling. Even amidst these enormous technical productions, Chris always prioritized making sure that sort of spontaneous and organic feeling could happen at the moment.

Inception commences Thursday