Jared Leto completely transforms himself into the characters he plays on screen. Prior to 2013, the “30 Second to Mars” performer was best known for his acting roles in “Fight Club”, “American Psycho”, “Requiem for a Dream”, “Panic Room” and “Alexander”.
Following a break from acting, Leto returned in ’13 with the role of a lifetime in “Dallas Buyers Club”, earning him virtually all of the Best Supporting Actor awards that season, including the Oscar. Leto’s performance as Rayon was deep and incredibly moving.
Leto’s follow-up would come nearly three years later, as The Joker in “Suicide Squad”. There was quite a lot of build-up to seeing Leto as this iconic character, but his actual screen time (approx. 10-15 minutes) was much less than expected. Margot Robbie definitely got more of a career boost from “Suicide Squad” with her breakthrough performance as Harley Quinn. Robbie reprised Harley for 2020’s “Birds of Prey” and last summer’s “The Suicide Squad”.
Despite the low impact as The Joker, Leto stayed in the Warner Bros. family for his next two major theatrical releases. First: 2017’s “Blade Runner 2049” — director Denis Villeneuve’s nearly perfect follow-up to Ridley Scott’s 1982 cult classic sci-fi picture. Leto played Niander Wallace opposite Harrison Ford, Ryan Gosling and Ana de Armas.
And then WB released “The Little Things” in theaters and on HBO Max in January 2021. Leto starred as the mysterious Albert Sparma alongside fellow Academy Award winners Denzel Washington and Rami Malek. Leto earned Best Supporting Actor Golden Globe and SAG Awards nominations but was snubbed for an Oscar nom.
So he recently tried again to get back on the ballot with his memorable work as Paolo Gucci in Ridley Scott’s “House of Gucci”. The result: another SAG Best Supporting Actor nom and a Critics Choice Awards nomination too, but no Oscar nom yet again.
Despite not being an Academy Award nominee, this next month is still a major one for Leto. His long-delayed Marvel action film “Morbius” is *finally* opening in theaters on April 1st. And he joins Anne Hathaway for the eight-episode limited series “WeCrashed”, premiering March 18th on AppleTV+.
Leto plays WeWork co-founder Adam Neumann. I’ve seen all eight episodes, and while I’m not allowed to publicly reveal my thoughts on “WeCrashed” just yet, it’s not a surprise or a spoiler to say that Leto absolutely sinks himself into this role.