Jared Leto | Biography, Movies, Oscar, & Facts (2024)

Jared Leto (born December 26, 1971, Bossier City, Louisiana, U.S.) is an American actor and musician who won an Academy Award for best supporting actor for his performance in Dallas Buyers Club (2013). He cofounded and led the popular alternative rock band 30 Seconds to Mars.

Leto’s parents divorced shortly after he was born, and he was raised by his mother, who traveled around the country and inculcated in her children an appreciation for the arts. Leto studied painting at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia and filmmaking at the School of Visual Arts in New York City before moving (1992) to Los Angeles. He almost immediately began taking guest parts on television shows, including Camp Wilder (1992–93). Leto’s breakthrough came when he was cast as the slacker heartthrob Jordan Catalano in the critical and later cult favourite series My So-Called Life (1994–95), which also starred Claire Danes.

Leto made his big-screen debut in a small part in How to Make an American Quilt (1995) and then starred as an Irish teenager in the coming-of-age movie The Last of the High Kings (1996; American title Summer Fling). He played the title character in the well-received biopic Prefontaine (1997), about the American distance runner Steve Prefontaine, as well as in the period romance Basil (1998), which he followed up with the slasher movie Urban Legend (1998). He also appeared in Terrence Malick’s star-packed war drama The Thin Red Line (1998). Leto played club regular Angel Face in the cult classic Fight Club (1999) and had major roles in Girl, Interrupted (1999) and American Psycho (2000).

With his acclaimed performance as a heroin addict in Darren Aronofsky’s Requiem for a Dream (2000), Leto gained a reputation for going to exceptional lengths in order to prepare for a role. He lost some 25 pounds (11 kg) and reportedly lived on the streets with junkies in preparation for the film. Leto appeared in the thrillers Panic Room (2002), Highway (2002), Lord of War (2005), and Lonely Hearts (2006), and then he put on 60 pounds (27 kg) for his portrayal of John Lennon’s killer, Mark David Chapman, in the widely panned film Chapter 27 (2007).

After starring in the Belgian drama Mr. Nobody (2009), Leto ceased acting for several years to focus on his music career. He returned to the big screen in 2013 with a performance as the AIDS-stricken transgender woman Rayon in Dallas Buyers Club, which brought him both a Golden Globe and an Academy Award for best supporting actor. Leto followed that triumph with a turn as the Joker in the critical and box-office failure Suicide Squad (2016). He then appeared in Blade Runner 2049 (2017) and The Outsider (2018). His credits from 2021 included The Little Things, in which he portrayed a serial killer, and House of Gucci, a true-crime drama about a family and its luxury fashion brand. Leto later appeared in the limited TV series WeCrashed (2022), which explores the rise and fall of WeWork, a company that promoted shared office space. He then starred as a scientist who becomes a vampire in Morbius (2022), a horror film based on a Marvel Comics character.

Leto started the band 30 Seconds to Mars in 1998 with his elder brother, drummer Shannon Leto. Jared Leto served as songwriter and frontman. Though the group was initially assumed to be a vanity project, its second album, A Beautiful Lie (2005), reached platinum status. Thereafter the ensemble toured frequently, playing to large and enthusiastic crowds, and its subsequent albums (This Is War [2009]), Love Lust Faith + Dreams [2013], and America [2018]) cemented Leto’s status as a rock star and made 30 Seconds to Mars a top draw.