Jared Leto Doesn’t Watch His Own Movies: “Well, the experience for me making a film is the most profound one. I really don’t have any business watching the movie so much. Maybe I could watch it for entertainment purposes, but you have so little input and control of the final product once you’re done that I feel like I just would rather leave it alone. It kind of leaves me in a place where every film I do, I’m kind of having to reinvent and figure out how to start again fresh, and hopefully not repeat myself.”
Leto has watched a couple of his movies, but so far hasn’t taken in a screening of “Lord of War.” Leto said, “I watched ‘Requiem for a Dream.’ It had been a year and a half since I made the movie and I had really let go of the part, and it was premiering at Cannes in front of 2000 people in France. We did the whole red carpet walk and I decided that I would be brave and be part of the experience that night, and I’m glad I did.”
Jared Leto on Tackling Tough Projects: “I think that there are opportunities, with every film that comes out, that are there for someone to grab onto. For me, I want to challenge myself. I want to be rewarded in some way during the process and walk away with something. So the great thing about making movies that I love is that I learned so much. I’ve seen so many beautiful places in the world, whether it’s Morocco or Thailand or England or certainly in the United States, and Southern Africa as well. Those are the things that I really look forward to.”
Jared Leto on Choosing Roles: Leto hasn’t exactly traveled down the beaten path with his acting career. Most of Leto’s work has been in darker, edger films rather than in mainstream studio fare. Leto says that’s definitely been a conscious decision on his part. “I think so. Actually I could probably say I know so. I like to work with talented people. I try to work with really good directors. I’ve been very fortunate to work with some of my favorite directors of all time, whether it’s Terrence Malick in a very small way or David Fincher, [Darren] Aronofsky, Oliver Stone. I look for a really strong director and a great script and a really good part.
I think a lot of those films for me have been probably more on the independent side. Maybe a bit darker than a typical mainstream film, that’s for sure. Not to say that I wouldn’t…. I sometimes question my sanity because a lot of these films explore such areas that it does affect your life in some ways, when you’re surrounded by that all the time. There’s a movie that I just finished that literally almost killed me called ‘Lonely Hearts.’ I did it with John Travolta, James Gandolfini, and Salma Hayek.”
On Going to a Dark Place in “Lonely Hearts:” “Yeah, it was brutal. It was a brutal experience. Everything about it was great – the set, the director, the actors were fine. It was just emotionally a very, very dark place. It’s either going to be the best thing that I’ve done or it may very well ruin me. Either one.”
Asked why he continues to go there when he knows how it will affect him, Leto said, “I suppose it’s the cliché of when someone says, ‘Why climb Mt. Everest? Because it’s there, you know? I mean, there is no great reward without great risk. I think why I’m doing it is that I have this incredible opportunity that I’m so grateful for, to live my dreams. And I really want to make films and do work that I’m proud of, to tell you the truth.”
There’s a popular genre of film missing from Leto’s body of work. Leto joked he’s going to have to look for a romantic comedy to take him away from the darker characters who get into his head. “A romantic comedy would work… Something cuddly and soft and warm. We’ll switch it up,” laughed Leto.
Jared Leto on His Band, 30 Seconds to Mars: “The band is great. Everything is going incredibly well. I couldn’t ask for anything more. It’s been so great that people have supported us so well. We were on tour for a while and now we’re about to go out with a band called Audioslave. We’ve already been touring for four or five months. We’ve got a couple more months of touring left in us this year and it’s just going incredibly well.
People are really supportive. And the fact that people are kind of looking through the stereotypical experience of there being someone who may have been kind of known as an actor in a band, the fact that people are looking through this and pointing us out and saying, ‘Hey, you guys are actually legitimate and doing a good job,’ is really rewarding to get that response.”
On Balancing Acting and Music: “It’s difficult because you have to sacrifice. Clint Eastwood actually wanted me to be in his movie and I had to say no to one of my heroes. I had to support the release of the record. But those are sacrifices that you make and just the name of the game.”
