Joseph Gordon-Levitt is a man of many talents, and belting out an awesome rendition of Taylor Swift’s “Lover” is just something else he excels at.
The 10 Things I Hate About You star made an appearance this week on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, where he was promoting his and Eddie Murphy’s new film, Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F. After previewing a clip of the film (out July 3), Gordon-Levitt lamented being in New York City and away from his wife, Tisha McCauley, who was celebrating her birthday that night.
So, in an effort to make it up to her, Gordon-Levitt gave her a shout-out after expressing sadness that she wasn’t there with him in the Big Apple. But there was more. The 43-year-old actor said he texted Jimmy Fallon ahead of his appearance hoping he’d let him give his wife a special birthday present on the air. Fallon obliged, and then came Gordon-Levitt’s “Lover” rendition on acoustic.
After hitting a few chords, Gordon-Levitt then broke out with, “We could leave the Christmas lights up ’til January / And this is our place, we make the rules,” before ultimately ending with an emphatic “Lover!” to punctuate the end of the chorus.
Rightfully so, Gordon-Levitt got a boisterous ovation following his performance.
The 500 Days of Summer star married McCauley in December 2014. The couple welcomed two sons in 2015 and 2017, respectively. The couple is extremely private about their children. They’ve never shared the names of their sons or any photos, either.
But in 2020, again speaking with Fallon, he gushed about being a father. He even praised the late-night comedian for his own inspiration in the fatherhood department.
“I saw you in that documentary about dads that Bryce Dallas Howard made. I’ve been wanting to tell you this ever since I saw it,” Gordon-Levitt told Fallon. “I saw it a few weeks ago and the question was, ‘What is a dad?’ And you were like, ‘A dad is…’ and you were looking for the right word, and you were like, ‘a hero.’ I just about started crying when you said that, man. Thinking about that I’m someone’s dad now because I remember looking up to my dad in that exact same way. There’s not really a lot of other people that you can grab them and [mimes hugging], you know what I mean?”
