Joseph Gordon-Levitt always creates a playlist for whatever character he’s playing

The actor, 43, says he's been in the habit since "before music was on phones."

Joseph Gordon-Levitt has a unique way of combining his love of music and acting.

During an appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon earlier this week, the late-night host asked the actor if it was true that he always makes a playlist for each new character he plays.

"Yeah that's true," Gordon-Levitt admitted. "Sometimes if you're trying to, I don't know, be angry or you're trying to be in love, it can really help if you listen to some angry music before you shoot, or you listen to some romantic music before you shoot."

When Fallon asked when he started doing that, the actor said, "Oh, I've done that, I don't know, since before you could make... like before music was on phones. I would bring CDs to set." The 43-year-old star has been starring in film or TV shows since the 1988 television movie Stranger on My Land.

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Naturally, this led Fallon to ask his guest what the playlist was for Gordon-Levitt's new role in Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F. "The playlist is only one song — 'Axel F,'" he deadpanned, which prompted the house band to obligingly play a riff from the song, much to Gordon-Levitt's delight, who told the audience the song was one of the first "grown-up music" songs he learned on the piano.

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Elsewhere in the interview, Gordon-Levitt combined his love of music with another piece of his heart: his wife, Tasha McCauley. It was her birthday June 19, and he wasn't able to spend the special day with her, so he surprised her (and Fallon and his audience) with his rendition of Taylor Swift's 2019 romantic hit, "Lover."

"Today is actually my wife's birthday, and I'm so sad because she's not here in New York with me," Gordon-Levitt explained before his performance. "I'm here working and she's back home, and I feel so terrible. So I texted Jimmy and I [asked], 'Can I give her a special birthday present on the show?'"

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"This is a song by a singer-songwriter that she really loves. You all might know [it]," he continued. "I just want to say, babe, you're the most luminous soul I've ever met, and I'm so grateful you were born. I'm coming home soon. Love you."

Watch Gordon-Levitt's interview and performance in the video above.

Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F, which also stars Eddie Murphy and Kevin Bacon, begins streaming on Netflix July 3.

Read the original article on Entertainment Weekly.