Joseph Gordon-Levitt has admitted being in the public eye has it's ''upsides and downsides''.

One of the negative aspects being that the '500 Days of Summer' star and his wife Tasha McCauley - who have a one-month-old son together - want to make sure their little boy is protected from the limelight.

Speaking on America's 'Live with Kelly and Michael' show, he said: ''Being in the public eye is a great thing. It allows me to do what I love to do, which is act in movies, but it's a choice that I made. I decided to have a career in show business, and so people know my name and know my face. And that has its upsides and honestly, some downsides.''

The 34-year-old actor wants his child to have the chance to make up his own mind about appearing in the public.

He added: ''My son, he's just a baby, you know? He hasn't made the choice to be in the public eye, and that's a choice that I would like him to be able to make when he's older, when he can think about these kinds of things and make that decision for himself.

''And so, for now, I'm just a protective dad, and I want to protect his privacy.''