JARED LETO

BY: Amanda Jane Stern

Jared Leto does not have the best reputation. It was reported that while filming The Suicide Squad he allegedly sent “gifts” to his co-stars that included bullets, used condom, and even a dead pig. Why did he do any of this? Apparently it was all in the name of method acting. Additionally, he came under fire when he, a straight cisgender man, portrayed Rayon, a transgender woman suffering from HIV, in Dallas Buyers Club. Yes, he won an Oscar for his role, but it can be agreed that the Oscars do not always make the best choices, and often like to pat themselves on the back for faux-progressiveness. 

The movie itself came under scrutiny for its fanciful portrayal of a supposedly true story. The movie tells the story of a homophobic, straight man named Ron Woodruff (Matthew McConaughey) who is diagnosed with AIDS in the mid-1980s. It is through his friendship with Rayon that he learns to not be so homophobic. Apparently though, the real Woodruff was never homophobic, in fact, according to many sources, including his ex-wife, he was openly bisexual. As one writer for The Mary Sue wrote, “Jared Leto is like Jordan Catalano (his breakout role from My So-Called Life) in that we all had crushes on him in high school and then grew up and looked back on him like, ‘ugh why did I spend my teen years obsessed over a moody jerk who can’t read?’”

Despite all the backlash, Leto continues to find work. He currently has seven projects in various stages of development. He is playing a strange man/suspected serial killer in the upcoming crime drama The Little Things. Given his past reported behavior on movie sets, did he stay in character the whole time filming? Did he keep trinkets he pilfered from his co-stars the way a real serial killer does their victims? Does his purported behavior actually constitute as method acting or has he consistently crossed the line? Does any of it actually serve to enhance his performances? Decide for yourself when The Little Things comes out January 29, 2021.

He is also stepping into another superhero universe with his role as Michael Morbius in the upcoming movie Morbius. Like with 2018’s Venom, Morbius is a stand-alone movie that focuses on the origin story for a villain from the Spider-Man comics. Morbius is scheduled to come out March 19, 2021. Leto is also rumored to be taking part in the upcoming biopic crime drama, Gucci. It will follow the story of Patrizia Reggiani, the ex-wife of Maurizio Gucci (grandson of the famous designer), and how she attempted to have her ex-husband killed. Who Leto would be playing has not been announced. The movie is supposed to come out November 24, 2021. And he is rumored to be playing Ares in the upcoming third film in the Tron franchise.

In addition to those four projects, he will possibly be reprising his role as the Joker in three more upcoming works. The first one, Zack Snyder’s Justice League, a re-cut of The Justice League movie, is a definite, but the other two projects have only just been announced. One will be a movie that centers on the relationship between the Joker and Harley Quinn, and the other a stand-alone film just about the Joker (Leto’s Joker from the 2016 Suicide Squad, not Joaquin Phoenix’s Joker from 2019’s Joker.)

How do you feel about Leto? Are you still a fan or have you soured on his antics? Is he still as bankable a star as Hollywood seems to think? Perhaps there is some truth to the saying “there’s no such thing as bad publicity.” As long as his behavior on sets continues to create headlines, it drives up buzz for his projects. And as long as he doesn’t stray too far over the line of legality, he will continue to bring in the money. 

We added for your pleasure two sexy Gucci films, both with Jared Leto. One is the director’s cut of Gucci Guilty shot in Venice with a beautiful threesome and one with Lana Del Rey.