--- description: Complete with drag and epic dance moves title: Watch Joseph Gordon-Levitt Lip Sync a Janet Jackson Classic image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [Newsfeed](/tag/time-section-newsfeed/) ## Newsfeed Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Watch Joseph Gordon-Levitt Perform a Janet Jackson Classic on _Lip Sync Battle_ by [Samantha Grossman](/author/samantha-grossman/) ## Samantha Grossman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Nov 20, 2015 5:19 PM CUT by [Samantha Grossman](/author/samantha-grossman/) ## Samantha Grossman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Nov 20, 2015 5:19 PM CUT Joseph Gordon-Levitt isn’t just the guy you daydream about bringing home to meet your mom for Passover. He’s also the guy who helped popularize the tradition of celebrities lip syncing on TV. (Two years ago he and his very expressive eyebrows [performed](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R4ajQ-foj2Q "undefined") “Tiny Dancer” and “Super Bass” on _The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon._ The clip racked up more than 50 million views.) The popular Jimmy Fallon segment is now a full-fledged show on Spike, and this week, JGL appeared to show off his finely-tuned lip sync skills once again. Dressed in drag, he performed Janet Jackson’s 1989 hit “Rhythm Nation.” He also showed off some pretty excellent dance moves. Who knows? Maybe he’ll show off those same moves at the Bar Mitzvah of your imaginary son, Jacob Gordon-Levitt. JGL faced off against actor Anthony Mackie, who did a decent job tackling MC Hammer’s “2 Legit 2 Quit.” But we all know your future husband was the real star of the show. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4122284/joseph-gordon-levitt-lip-sync-battle/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4122284/joseph-gordon-levitt-lip-sync-battle/"},"headline":"Watch Joseph Gordon-Levitt Perform a Janet Jackson Classic on Lip Sync Battle","datePublished":"2015-11-20T17:19:45.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:27:04.271Z","description":"Complete with drag and epic dance moves","url":"https://time.com/4122284/joseph-gordon-levitt-lip-sync-battle/","keywords":["Newsfeed","celebrity"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Samantha Grossman","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/samantha-grossman/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4122284/joseph-gordon-levitt-lip-sync-battle/","name":"Watch Joseph Gordon-Levitt Perform a Janet Jackson Classic on Lip Sync Battle"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Late-Night Highlight: Watch Joseph Gordon-Levitt Sing Rihanna On 'Tonight Show'","description":"Joseph Gordon-Levitt stopped by the 'Tonight Show' Thursday and showed off his singing skills by belting out Rihanna with the barbershop quartet.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/eTpelarC/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2015-09-25T05:58:17.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/eTpelarC.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4122284/joseph-gordon-levitt-lip-sync-battle/","duration":"PT1M12S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4122284/joseph-gordon-levitt-lip-sync-battle/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```