Joseph Gordon-Levitt charmed Sundance Film Festival fans a year ago with the romance “(500) Days of Summer.”

Now the “3rd Rock From the Sun” co-star is assailing Sundance crowds with a wild man role in “Hesher,” the tale of a heavy-metal anarchist who bursts into the lives of a grieving boy and his family.

A flurry of films that passed through Sundance — the teen dramas “Manic,” ”Mysterious Skin” and “Brick” — helped former child star Gordon-Levitt graduate into adult roles and showed he was more than just that alien kid in human form on his sitcom.

In the title role of “Hesher,” Gordon-Levitt bears little resemblance to the clean-cut young romantic of “(500) Days of Summer,” which earned him a Golden Globe nomination. His Hesher has long, stringy hair, tattoos everywhere and a mad-dog demeanor that shouts: “Mess with this guy at your own peril.”

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I wasn’t going to blog about “SNL”‘s latest episode because, honestly, I fell asleep at 10:30 last night and didn’t wake up until 11:35, missing the cold opening (from what I have read, I haven’t missed anything.)

But as I watched it, I became charmed by guest host Joseph Gordon-Levitt, by guest environmental straight man Al Gore, by guest musician and eager goofball Dave Matthews, and by the fact that the show has finally found a proper use for Kenan Thompson. (And it’s not playing Jennifer Hudson!)

I’m pretty tough on this show – with good reason – so when it has a consistently funny episode, I feel I should note that as well. Gordon-Levitt was a winner, mostly because he’s genuinely talented, not just the hottest person of the moment. I love when kid stars grow up to prove that their initial stardom was about comic timing and the ability to hold the camera’s attention, and not just that they’re cute.

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Joseph Gordon-Levitt is host for Nov. 21, while January Jones gets the call Nov. 14.

The new shows begin Nov. 7 with Taylor Swift holding down both roles, as previously announced.

On Nov. 14, in the footsteps of Jon Hamm’s exceptional work last season, his Mad Men wife, January Jones, will be the host. Black Eyed Peas is musical guest.

On Nov. 21, A man who was in both (500) Days of Summer and G.I. Joe (in consecutive weeks!), Joseph Gordon-Levitt, will be the host, while Dave Matthews Band will play Studio 8H for the first time in nearly 10 years.