Joseph Gordon-Levitt played Philippe Petit in his biopic.
Joseph Gordon-Levitt . He starred as Philippe Petit in the Robert Zemeckis-directed film The Walk ( 2015 ) , and as Edward Snowden in the Oliver Stone film Snowden ( 2016 ) . The Walk is a 2015 American 3D biographical drama film directed by Robert Zemeckis and written by Christopher Browne and Zemeckis . It is based on the story of 24-year-old French high-wire artist Philippe Petit 's walk between the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center on August 7 , 1974 .