Joseph Gordon-Levitt Opens Up About His Brother's Death

June 6, 2014 -- Joseph Gordon-Levitt always looked up to his older brother Dan.

In a new video for their "open collaborative production company," hitRECord, Gordon-Levitt gushed about how his sibling did everything first. That includes death since Dan died in 2010.

"So, I have that as an example, in a way. And, frankly, it makes it less scary in a way, too, knowing that he's done it," Gordon-Levitt said in a YouTube video. 'Cause all the big things that I ever had to do, he did 'em first. So, that's what it's like being second."

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Gordon-Levitt, 33, growing up as the little brother was tough for him "because I was competitive." However, the struggle to beat his brother at sports and video games only made him more determined to succeed, he said.

"As we got older, we became less and less competitive and more and more collaborative with each other to the point where being a second child hardly mattered at all," he said. "I always had him as an example."