15 striking films with Jared Leto

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

On December 26, the ageless actor and musician turned 49 years old.

1. Cool and crazy

• USA, 1994.
• Drama, action, thriller.
• Duration: 84 minutes.
• IMDb: 4, 1.

Mike and Rosalyn got married and had a child too early, although entertainment and new acquaintances continued to interest them more than family life. Soon Rosalyn realized that she only needed a beloved husband. But he still wants to come off.

Having played in the only season of the TV series "My So Called Life", Jared Leto starred in one of the main roles in "The Cool and the Geeks." This film is part of the larger Rebel Highway franchise, an attempt to revive the spirit of the cheap fifties pictures. The same series included, for example, "Racers" by Robert Rodriguez.

Leto's debut was not very successful, many consider the film boring and flat. But it is still interesting to look at the first big role of the future star.

2. The last of the great kings

• Denmark, Great Britain, Ireland, 1996.
• Drama, comedy.
• Duration: 104 minutes.
• IMDb: 6, 3.

Seventeen-year-old Frankie lives with a large family in Dublin. He is convinced that he failed his final exams and decides to get a good rest over the summer. Frankie throws beach parties, tries to get close to two unapproachable beauties without noticing the close family friend she likes.

For the directors, Jared Leto was a real godsend. At the time of filming, he was almost ten years older than his character. But the type of the eternally young hero stuck with the actor for a long time. Leto himself says that it is only a matter of good heredity.

3. Prefontein

• USA, 1997.
• Drama, biography.
• Duration: 106 minutes.
• IMDb: 6, 8.

The film is based on the true story of the athlete Steve Prefontein. Since childhood, he has shown unprecedented abilities in running at medium and long distances. He was promised Olympic gold. He made an invaluable contribution to the development of running and became one of the most tragic figures in world sports.

Leto was hired for this role due to the similarity to the prototype. But the actor went even further: he met with Prefontein's relatives, adopted his manner of speech, habits and even running style.

They say that Steve's sister burst into tears when she saw Jared in character. After all, the actor has completely reincarnated in his character.

4. Basil

• UK, 1998.
• Drama, melodrama.
• Duration: 113 minutes.
• IMDb: 6, 1.

19th century England, a young aristocrat Basil (Jared Leto) is brought up on a family estate. The father tries to forbid him to communicate with representatives of the lower class and even threatens to disinherit. Basil does not want to obey outdated traditions. He is friends with a person of ordinary origin, and then falls in love with the daughter of a merchant. But it all turns out to be part of the intrigue.

5. Fight club

• USA, 1999.
• Drama, thriller.
• Duration: 139 minutes.
• IMDb: 8, 8.

The main character spends his life at an unloved job and cannot relax even in a dream. But everything changes when he meets the soap merchant Tyler Durden. He convinces him that the main and only goal of life is self-destruction.

Friends open "Fight Club" - a secret place where anyone can come just to fight. But then the hero realizes that the soap merchant's plans are much more complicated.

Although Leto played a minor role in this film as one of Durden's henchmen, his character is well remembered for several reasons.

First, after beating him, Tyler says, "I wanted to destroy something beautiful." Obvious irony over the love of girls for a handsome actor.

And secondly, looking directly at the hero Leto, Durden throws the phrase: "You will never become rock stars." And this is also no coincidence. Just a year before filming, Jared and his brother Shannon organized Thirty Seconds to Mars. But Tyler Durden was wrong: after a couple of years, the group had already taken off.

6. American psychopath

• USA, 2000.
• Drama, thriller.
• Duration: 101 minutes.
• IMDb: 7, 6.

At first glance, Patrick Bateman is almost perfect. He is an excellent worker, takes care of himself, helps people. But behind all this is an obsessive passion for violence. Seeing a homeless man, Patrick first wants to help him, and then impulsively kills. The violence cannot be stopped further.

Another bright, albeit minor role of Leto. In this film, he did not have the opportunity to reveal himself as an actor. But the scene where the hero of Christian Bale first tells something emotionally, dances, and then kills the character of Jared Leto with an ax, was loved by many.

7. Requiem for a Dream

• USA, 2000.
• Psychological drama.
• Duration: 102 minutes.
• IMDb: 8, 3.

To get on a hit TV show, Sarah Goldfarb tries to lose weight, but ends up taking amphetamines. Her son Harry and his friend Tyrone want to get rich selling drugs. And the girl Harry Marion dreams of opening her own fashion store. But the plans are not destined to come true, the lives of the heroes are crumbling.

The role in the film by Darren Aronofsky is considered one of Leto's best films in cinema. The drug addict Harold in his performance looks lively and charming. And that's why the story of self-destruction looks so moving.

8. Highway

• USA, 2002.
• Drama, crime.
• Duration: 97 minutes.
• IMDb: 6, 3.

Hooligans Jack and Pilot decide to run away from their problems. They get into an old car and drive from Las Vegas to Seattle. On the way, friends meet new people, get into various troubles and even turn their car into a convertible. But the destination turns out to be no less dangerous place than where they escaped from.

Leto's image in the film strongly echoes his stage image. It was at this time that the team released their first album and reached the peak of popularity. But even those who are not familiar with the artist's musical work will remember his on-screen partnership with Jake Gyllenhaal.

9. Panic room

• USA, 2002.
• Drama, thriller.
• Duration: 112 minutes.
• IMDb: 6, 8.

Meg Altman and her daughter Sarah move into a new large house that was previously owned by a millionaire. Among other things, it has an "emergency room" where you can hide from criminals. Of course, soon robbers, led by the grandson of the previous owner, raided their house.

Jared Leto has already played with David Fincher at Fight Club. And in the next picture he got the more significant role of the leader of criminals. True, he dies first.

10. Armory Baron

• USA, 2005.
• Drama, crime, thriller.
• Duration: 122 minutes.
• IMDb: 7, 6.

The descendants of Russian émigrés, Yuri and Vitaly Orlov, begin the arms trade. Their business is developing rapidly, and Yuri becomes a real arms baron. But the Interpol agent is getting closer and closer to him.

Jared Leto, who played Vitaly, really has Russian roots. And at some points in the film, he speaks well the language of his ancestors.

But most of the Russian phrases that Leto utters at concerts or in interviews are obscene.

11. Chapter 27

• USA, 2007.
• Drama, biography.
• Duration: 84 minutes.
• IMDb: 5, 7.

The film tells the story of the tragedy on December 8, 1980, when Mark Chapman shot John Lennon. A few days before the event, the mental state of the future killer had deteriorated significantly. Having committed a crime, he remained to wait for the police, reading the novel "The Catcher in the Rye."

Leto was completely different from Chapman. Therefore, for the role, he had to gain more than 30 kg. According to rumors, he developed gout because of this.

12. Mr. Nobody

• USA, 2009.
• Drama, fantasy.
• Duration: 141 minutes.
• IMDb: 7, 9.

Nemo Nobody is the only mortal person in the future where humans have conquered aging. He is living out his last days and telling the story of his life. But often his words contradict each other, as if he recalls various options for his own fate.

"Mister Nobody" is a real benefit of Leto's acting skills. In one film, he managed to try on completely different images, showing how much a choice once made can affect the character and appearance of a person.

13. Dallas Buyers Club

• USA, 2013.
• Drama.
• Duration: 117 minutes.
• IMDb: 8, 0.

The film is based on the true story of electrician Ron Woodroof, who was diagnosed with AIDS in 1985. He managed to extend his life by taking non-standard medications, and then began selling them to other people with a similar diagnosis.

Jared Leto played here a transvestite AIDS patient. Like Matthew McConaughey, the actor lost a lot of weight for the role. And it was this image in the film by Jean-Marc Vallee that brought Leto a well-deserved Oscar.

14. Suicide squad

• USA, 2016.
• Superhero action, comedy.
• Duration: 123 minutes.
• IMDb: 6, 1.

To counter the danger looming over the world, the government assembles a team of criminals. The villains were given the only chance to atone for their sins. They cannot refuse and they cannot escape. And in general, their mission is almost suicide.

After Heath Ledger's triumph in The Dark Knight, the filmmakers had to work hard to make the new Joker stand out from its predecessors. And they created a completely different image for Jared Leto - the insane king of the underworld covered with tattoos on an expensive car.

15. Blade Runner 2049

• USA, UK, Canada, 2017.
• Science fiction, cyberpunk, action.
• Duration: 164 minutes.
• IMDb: 8, 0.

Officer Kay must capture the fugitive replicants and either return them to their owners or destroy them. But one day he receives information that can destroy the entire existing world order. And now he needs to find the former officer Rick Deckard, who disappeared many years ago.

In continuation of the legendary film "Blade Runner" the authors have collected the most charismatic actors. And, of course, the role of the creator of replicants obsessed with a god complex went to Jared Leto.

Bonus: Thirty Seconds to Mars clips

It is impossible not to mention the work of Jared Leto's team. Primarily because he shot most of the videos himself.

In 2006, the first video The Kill was released, the author of which was designated Bartholomew Cubbins. Leto described the director as "an incredibly nasty Danish albino." But in fact, the singer himself is hiding behind the pseudonym, and he took the name from the story of Dr. Seuss, the author of the poem "The Grinch Stole Christmas".

Many of the team's clips are real films with a plot or, on the contrary, the embodiment of strange fantasies and emotions. In the middle of the video, the composition may break off for a while, giving way to noise inserts or conversation.

In other videos, for example in Closer To The Edge, fans of the group appear, the so-called echelon with which the musician communicates.

Or all sorts of creative and simply unusual personalities are filmed.

But always the clips shot by Jared Leto look bright, rich and emotional. There are even more of them in the official group.