Joseph Gordon-Levitt sat down recently with Hitfix.com to talk about his highly-anticipated portrayal of Cobra Commander, leader of the world terrorist organization COBRA, in the Hasbro toy adaptation “GI Joe: Rise Of COBRA”.

“It was nothing but fun, […] People have been asking me about ‘G.I. Joe’ like ‘Oh, it’s so different.’ or ‘You normally do these works of art and now you’re doing this.’ But I’ll tell you the truth, the reason I did ‘G.I. Joe’ was the same reason I did ‘Brick’ or ‘Mysterious Skin’ or ‘500 Days of Summer’ or ‘The Lookout’ or anything else, which is that I was creatively inspired. I’ll tell you what it was. It was when they showed me drawings of the design for my character’s look. I was like, ‘I get to be that? You’re going to make that in real life and stick it on me? Cool. Let me do it.’ That’s a once-in-lifetime opportunity. Actors throughout the ages would be flabbergasted at the abilities of modern storytelling and technology. I was honored and, beyond honored, I had a f***ing blast getting to play with these toys.”

Cobra Commander, the evil villain from the classic toy line that has spawned various other media, including a beloved 80’s cartoon and various comics, is perhaps best known for his full snake-themed masks and raspy voice. Originally he was depicted as a used car salesman who became a scam artist and then continued his rise through crime to become head of COBRA, hiding his face and planning word conquest through extortion, terror, and mad science.

“GI Joe: The Rise Of COBRA” hits theaters August 7th, 2009.

Stay tuned to Shockya.com for more GI Joe news.

By Costa Koutsoutis, (Source: Hitfix.com)