Jared Leto

Born in Bossier City (Louisiana), on December 26, 1971, Jared Joseph Leto suffered from his parents’ divorce at an early age. She was eventually left in the care of his mother, Constance, of Cajun descent, who encouraged her son’s interest in art, lived according to the hippy philosophy, and was constantly moving from city to city.

From an early age, the boy was fond of the music of Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin, and learned to play the piano. “We had an old piano that was possibly salvaged from a junkyard,” recalls the actor. “The keys were broken and it was out of tune, but I played it constantly, I learned melodies and even encouraged myself to make small compositions.”

He studied Art, specializing in Painting, at the University of Philadelphia. But as soon as he graduated, he decided that his acting vocation called him. She received acting training at New York City’s High School of Visuals Arts.

After moving to Los Angeles, he starred with Claire Danes in the youth series It’s My Life , which received good reviews but was quickly cancelled. He made his film debut with Where love resides , in which he played the boyfriend of one of the women who meet to knit quilts with the protagonist ( Winona Ryder ) .

In the late 90s, Jared Leto began to emerge, playing a kidnapped hitchhiker in Kidnapping , along with Danny Glover and Dennis Quaid ; an Edward Norton fan who ends up disfigured in one of David Fincher ‘s greatest hits , Fight Club ; a student reporter in Urban Legend ; a psychiatric hospital patient in Girl, Interrupted ; and an Army lieutenant in the Pacific, in The Thin Red Line , an extraordinary film work by the legendary Terrence Malick .

In 1998 he founded the alternative rock band 30 Seconds to Mars with his brother Shannon and other musicians. The group achieved enormous international success in a short time, especially after their second album, “A Beautiful Lie”. But he did not leave the cinema. After playing a rival to Christian Bale ‘s killer in American Psycho , Jared Leto delivered some of his most compelling work, as a young heroin addict, in Darren Aronofsky’s imaginative and dramatic Requiem for a Dream . To prepare for the role, he lost more than 25 pounds, and spent time living on the streets of New York.

He also radically transformed for The Assassination of John Lennon , where he gained 30 kilos to play Mark David Chapman, the assassin of the leader of The Beatles. He was also Hephaestion, the best friend of the protagonist in Oliver Stone ‘s Alexander the Great , and the tormented brother of an arms dealer ( Nicolas Cage ) in The Lord of War . Fincher cast him again in the role of the burglar who terrorized Jodie Foster and her daughter in Panic Room .

A regular at glossy magazines, Jared Leto has been the official boyfriend of Cameron Díaz and Scarlett Johansson , has had affairs with Lindsay Lohan and Britney Spears , and has been falsely linked to Lupita Nyong’o and the young Miley Cyrus .

After four years completely retired from acting, to concentrate on his musical activity, Jared Leto returned to the screens in Dallas Buyers Club . He surprises more than ever as Rayon, a drug-addicted transsexual who teams up with the protagonist ( Matthew McConaughey ) to deal in clandestine medicines. He conscientiously prepared the role of him, speaking with transsexuals.

He also radically reduced his diet to the point that it put his health at risk. “Characterizing myself, for me, is like climbing a mountain,” said the actor. “You prepare an expedition, you plan, you look at maps, you gather supplies and you go. And once you’re gone you go, you’re already engaged.” He won the Golden Globe for Best Supporting Role and earned an Oscar nomination in the same category.