In Rian Johnson's upcoming sci-fi action film Looper, Joseph Gordon-Levitt plays Joe, a looper (a hitman who kills people sent back in time by mobs in the future) who eventually has to face-off against his future self (played by Bruce Willis).  When casting was announced, we didn't really think twice about the two actors not resembling each other.  It was simple suspension of disbelief.  But Johnson is having none of that.  The Brick director tells the LA Times that Gordon-Levitt will be spending three hours a day in a make-up chair and wear practical prosthetics to resemble the older actor.

Hit the jump for Johnson's explanation on how Gordon-Levitt will be playing Willis.  Johnson also talks about how time travel will be used in the movie. Looper opens September 28th.

So how is Joseph Gordon-Levitt playing Bruce Willis beyond wearing prosthetics?  Johnson explains to the LA Times:

"But the biggest thing is Joe's performance, he's really doing Bruce in a big and daring way, but he strikes a balance between obviously imitating Bruce and also building this organic performance."

That sounds incredibly cool and I'm curious to see if Gordon-Levitt pulled it off.

Johnson also mentioned how time travel relates to Looper's plot:

"If you just tell somebody the plot, you're inevitably telling them the time travel stuff, but the movie actually uses that as a set-up. The best parallel I can draw is to the first 'Terminator' movie where time travel is used to set up this impossible situation between these people and then that situation plays itself out."

I would also presume that Willis' character has the advantage since he would know everything his younger self would do.  The wait till September feels like an eternity.