Joseph Gordon-Levitt has revealed it is a “privilege” to play Edward Snowden in Oliver Stone’s biopic.

The first official image of the Dark Knight Rises actor as the National Security Agency (NSA) whistleblower in Stone’s movie Snowden has been released.

(Open Road Films)
(Open Road Films)

The star is barely recognisable as he dons fatigues for a scene showing Edward’s enrolment in the US Army in May 2004. He was discharged four months later in September.

Joseph wrote on Facebook: “I was surprised when I first learned this about Snowden – that he enlisted in the US Army in 2004. He wanted to go fight in Iraq, but during basic training at Fort Benning, he broke both of his legs and received an administrative discharge.

“After that, he was still determined to serve his country (love him or hate him, you gotta admit the guy’s strong-willed) and so he ended up getting a job at the CIA, which is where his career in Intelligence began.”

The 34-year-old actor admitted that the shoot has been tougher than he expected.

“Today’s scenes felt like a really good way to start this shoot. It was hard, but of course, nowhere near as hard as real basic training,” he wrote on Facebook.

“And me, I’m just honoured and excited to be doing a soldier sequence with Oliver. I keep saying to myself: “f***, this guy directed Platoon!”

Joseph added: “This is gonna be Oliver’s twentieth film, and I feel so sincerely privileged that he asked me to play this part.”

Snowden, which is currently filming in Munich, is based on Luke Harding’s book, The Snowden Files: The Inside Story Of The World’s Most Wanted Man. It is scheduled for release in December.