in 2015, gordon-levitt starred as philippe petit in the biographical drama "the walk", directed by academy award-winning director robert zemeckis. gordon-levitt then played national security agency surveillance leaker edward snowden in "snowden", directed by oliver stone. the film was released in north america on september 16, 2016, and co-starred shailene woodley, melissa leo, zachary quinto, tom wilkinson, and nicolas cage.