birth name | Jared Joseph Leto |
---|---|
birth date | December 26, 1971 |
birth place | Bossier City, Louisiana, U.S. |
other names | Bartholomew Cubbins, Angakok Panipaq |
occupation | Musician, composer, singer, songwriter, producer, actor, director, photographer |
years active | 1992–present |
relatives | Shannon Leto (brother) }} |
Jared Joseph Leto (born December 26, 1971) is an American actor, director, producer and musician. Leto has starred in both big budget Hollywood films and the smaller projects from independent producers and art houses. He rose to prominence for playing brooding heartthrob Jordan Catalano in the cult hit teenage drama My So-Called Life (1994), becoming a teen idol. He later made his film debut in the drama How to Make an American Quilt (1995) and received first notable critical praise for his performance in Prefontaine (1997). Leto obtained recognition for his subsequent work in supporting roles in The Thin Red Line (1998) and Girl, Interrupted (1999), as well as the leading role in the successful horror film Urban Legend (1998), and earned critical acclaim after portraying heroin addict Harry Goldfarb in Darren Aronofsky's Requiem for a Dream (2000). He has collaborated with director David Fincher in Fight Club (1999) and Panic Room (2002). Since the 2000s, Leto has been nominated for awards for his work in such films as American Psycho (2000), Highway (2002), Lord of War (2005), Lonely Hearts (2006), Chapter 27 (2007), and Mr. Nobody (2009).
Aside from his film career, Leto is the lead vocalist, multi-instrumentalist and main songwriter for the rock band 30 Seconds to Mars. He formed the band in 1998 in Los Angeles, California, along with his older brother Shannon Leto. Signed with Immortal and Virgin, 30 Seconds to Mars released their self-titled debut album in 2002 to positive reviews. The band's follow-up album, A Beautiful Lie (2005), was a breakthrough success, going platinum in several countries. However their record label Virgin, filed a $30 million lawsuit against the Leto brothers accusing them as breaching their contract. The lawsuit was later annulled as the band decided to resign to Virgin, and This Is War, the band's third album, arrived in December 2009 to critical praise. Leto has also directed several critically acclaimed band's music videos, including the MTV Video Music Award nominated "The Kill" (2006), "Kings and Queens" (2009), and "Hurricane" (2010).
After dropping out briefly in the 10th grade, Leto decided to return and focus on his education at the private Flint Hill School in Oakton, Virginia, but graduated from Emerson Preparatory School in Washington, D.C., in 1989. When he finished school, Leto enrolled at Philadelphia's University of the Arts and majored in painting. However, after developing an interest in acting, he transferred to New York City's School of Visual Arts, where he majored in filmmaking. While he was a student there, he wrote and starred in his own short film, Crying Joy.
After landing the lead role of a British aristocratic in the 1998 drama Basil, Leto starred in the teen horror hit Urband Legend, one of the more successful exploitations of the teen horror genre. He plays a school journalist and love interest of Alicia Witt’s character. Together, they go up against a crazed killer that is recreating urban legend massacres. The film was a massive success commercially, though critics mostly disliked the film. Leto was then pleased to get a role in the World War II film The Thin Red Line, as part of a cast including Sean Penn, Nick Nolte and Adrien Brody. The film was nominated for seven Academy Awards and was a moderate success at the box office. In 1999, he appeared as a gay high school teacher who attracts the attentions of Robert Downey, Jr. in James Toback's Black and White. The same year, he co-starred with Winona Ryder and Angelina Jolie in James Mangold's Girl, Interrupted, a film that tells the story of mental patient Susanna Kaysen, and which was adapted from Kaysen's memoir of the same name. Leto was nominated for a Broadcast Film Critics Association Award in the category of Best Supporting Actor for his performance, but lost to Michael Clarke Duncan for The Green Mile. He was also seen in David Fincher's cult classic Fight Club, a film adaptation of Chuck Palahniuk's novel of the same name. While Edward Norton and Brad Pitt were the lead roles, Leto took the supporting role of a bleached blond Angel Face that was beaten almost beyond recognition.
After the critical success of Requiem for a Dream, Leto's next role was as the lead character in 2002's Highway. Set in 1994, Leto is caught with a gangster's wife and flee to Seattle with his best friend Jake Gyllenhaal in the week preceding Kurt Cobain's suicide. He was nominated for a Video Premiere Award for his performance. In 2002, Leto worked again with director David Fincher in Panic Room, playing a villain who terrorizes Jodie Foster. The film grossed over $30 million in its opening weekend in the United States, the best performance of a film Leto has appeared in to date. He was also in Phone Booth, playing an actor in a theater production of Drockula. He and Colin Farrell's character have a quick scene in an alley. The scene was deleted from the film, but restored when the film was aired on television.
After spending two years pursuing a career in music, Leto returned to film work in 2004 in the supporting role of Hephaestion in Oliver Stone's Alexander. The film failed domestically, with Stone attributing its poor reception to disapproval of the depiction of Alexander's bisexuality, but it succeeded internationally, with revenue of $139 million outside the United States. The following year Leto portrayed Nicolas Cage’s younger brother Vitaly Orlov in the action-drama Lord of War. The film was well-received by most critics and received a special mention for excellence in film making from the National Board of Review. In 2005, he was also in Hubert Selby Jr: It/ll Be Better Tomorrow, a documentary on the life and work of writer Hubert Selby, Jr. Leto later starred in 2006's Lonely Hearts. Playing Fernandez, he co-starred with Salma Hayek who played the role Martha. The film received mixed responses but Leto's performance was praised by many critics who wrote "it's worth seeing for Leto's performance alone."
During this period Leto focused increasingly on his band, turning down such films as Clint Eastwood's World War II film Flags of Our Fathers. On having to say no to Eastwood, Leto explained: "That's a dream come true when Clint Eastwood asks you to be in his film. I was devastated that I couldn't be a part of the film. But I had commitments, a record I had worked on for a couple of years was coming out. It was a very, very important time. It was a make or break time. It was one of those decisions that you make where you can see two paths and I think I made the right decision for myself. I'd love to work with Clint Eastwood in the future, he's one of my heroes." He was also chosen by Joby Harold to play Clayton Beresford in 2007's Awake. He later turned down the role due to scheduling conflicts with his band and was replaced by Hayden Christensen.
In 2009, Leto returned to acting with Mr. Nobody. Leto's role as Nemo Nobody required him to play the character as far aged as 118. The film was mostly funded through European financiers, and was given limited release. Variety
In 2011, Leto narrated TT3D: Closer to the Edge, a documentary film about the TT, the world-famous annual motorcycle race that takes place on the Isle of Man. The film was well-received both critically and commercially. Grossing £1.14 million, it is the seventh biggest documentary hit of all time in the United Kingdom.
Released in 2005, A Beautiful Lie was the band's mainstream breakthrough. It has since been certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), and has reached platinum and gold status in several countries, with a sales total of over 3.5 million. It was led by "Attack" which was the most added track on alternative radio in its first week, becoming a Modern Rock top 30 hit. 30 Seconds to Mars began their first headlining tour, Forever Night Never Day, in March 2006. At the same time, the band released the album's second single, "The Kill", which enjoyed mainstream success; it set a record for the longest-running hit in the history of the Hot Modern Rock Tracks when it remained on the national airplay chart for more than 50 weeks, following its number three peak in 2006. Leto directed the music video for the single under the pseudonym of Bartholomew Cubbins, a recurring character in the Dr. Seuss universe. Inspired by themes of isolation and insanity present in the Stanley Kubrick's The Shining, Leto said, "The idea of isolation, identity, and self discovery were all elements present in the song. I thought this light homage was a good starting point and it soon grew to include many more elements outside of Kubrick's original piece." Nominated for two MTV Video Music Awards, the band won the MTV2 Award. The music video garnered a lot of recognition, including two MTV Australia Awards and a Chainsaw Award. In October 2006, the band began their Welcome to the Universe Tour, sponsored by MTV2 and were supported by Head Automatica, The Receiving End of Sirens, Cobra Starship, Rock Kills Kid, and several other bands including Street Drum Corps.
In 2006, Leto created the cover art for The 97X Green Room: Volume 2, a compilation of live music in which appears 30 Seconds to Mars song "Was It a Dream?". Proceeds from the album's sales benefited The Nature Conservancy. "From Yesterday", the third single from A Beautiful Lie, had major success, reaching number one on the Hot Modern Rock Tracks and becoming 30 Seconds to Mars second top 10 hit. The short film for the single, directed by Leto, is the first ever American music video shot in the People's Republic of China in its entirety. Leto said that the video was inspired by Bernardo Bertolucci's The Last Emperor as well as the work of the Japanese director Akira Kurosawa. He explained, "That and the passion and the history of the Chinese culture. I thought it would be the perfect setting to tell the story of 'From Yesterday,' and it ended up one of those really unique things that the song and the visual images kind of collided and made something completely new." The video was voted the greatest epic video of all time on Yahoo! Music Australia, and received awards and nominations from Kerrang!, Rock Sound, and Rock on Request. In March 2007, Matt Wachter left the group to spend more time with his family and was replaced by Tim Kelleher, performing live only.
"A Beautiful Lie" was released as the album's fourth single in some territories, including Portugal, where it reached number eight on the chart. The music video for the song, directed by Leto under the pseudonym of Angakok Panipaq, was the first one ever to be shot 200 miles north of the Arctic Circle in Greenland. The video was filmed in an entirely environmentally friendly character. Proceeds from the video's sales benefited the Natural Resources Defense Council. "Shooting in Greenland was a dream come true and one of the most exciting adventures we've ever had as a band," Leto said. "Although incredibly challenging and at times it seemed just out of our reach, once we finally arrived the beauty and magnificence of the terrain, the wonderful culture of the people, and the amazing journey itself were all inspiring beyond belief. Almost everyone has heard of global warming by now but for the people of Greenland it is a real and tangible problem of today, not an issue of tomorrow. This journey changed our lives." The music video received a largely positive response, winning the MTV Europe Music Award for Best Video and the MTV Asia Award for Favorite Video. In 2008, Leto also remixed "The Only One" for The Cure's extended play Hypnagogic States.
After nearly a year of the lawsuit battle, the band announced on April 28, 2009, that the case had been settled. The suit was resolved following a defence based on a contract case involving actress Olivia de Havilland decades before. Leto explained, "The California Appeals Court ruled that no service contract in California is valid after seven years, and it became known as the De Havilland Law after she used it to get out of her contract with Warner Bros." 30 Seconds to Mars then decided to re-sign with EMI (the parent label of Virgin). Leto said the band had "resolved our differences with EMI" and the decision had been made because of "the willingness and enthusiasm by EMI to address our major concerns and issues, (and) the opportunity to return to work with a team so committed and passionate about 30 Seconds to Mars".
This Is War was released in December 2009, produced by Flood, Steve Lillywhite and 30 Seconds to Mars. The album peaked at number one on the Tastemaker Albums, number two on the Alternative Albums and Digital Albums, number four on the Rock Albums, and number 18 on the Billboard 200. Its first two singles, "Kings and Queens" and "This Is War", peaked at number one on the Alternative Songs and reached number four on the Rock Songs. The short film for "Kings and Queens", called "The Ride," was directed by Leto and premiered at The Montalban Theater in Los Angeles on November 9, 2009. The music video features a Critical Mass Crank Mob movement and celebrates the community of riders on a night time journey from downtown L.A. to Santa Monica Pier, a fitting love letter to the city of Los Angeles. "It's a lyrical and slightly metaphorical surreal journey through the city of Angels, from downtown Los Angeles to Santa Monica Pier," Leto said. The video received four nominations at the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards in the categories of Best Art Direction, Best Direction, Best Rock Video, and Video of the Year, winning the Best Rock Video Award. The band shot the music video for "This Is War" with director Edouard Salier in 2010, but was released a year later, in April 2011. Leto told MTV News, "'This Is War' is the first video that I let someone else direct, and let's just say we won't be doing that again anytime soon."
The third single, "Closer to the Edge", reached number seven on the Alternative Songs, becoming the band's fifth Modern Rock top 10 hit. It holds the record for most weeks spent at the number one during 2010 on the UK Rock Chart when it remained at the top for eight consecutive weeks. The song's music video was directed by Leto and premiered on June 7, 2010, in New Zealand. The short film is a collage of tour footage, fan commentary and pictures of the band from their youth. It was shot in 89 cities in 27 different countries during the band's Into the Wild Tour. The music video was received with highly positive reviews by critics and garnered awards and nominations from Rock Sound, Fuse, and MTV.
}} In 2009, Kanye West announced that he and Leto recorded together a song named "Hurricane". However, West's vocal contribution to the song was ultimately removed because of legal issues surrounding the rights of each record company. The collaboration was later released on the deluxe edition of This Is War and became the album's fourth single in some territories. The music video for the single was directed by Leto and premiered on MTV on November 29, 2010. "Hurricane" is a psychologically thrilling meditation on sexually deviancy, and as Leto himself put it, "a meditation on the violence of sex, and the sex of violence." He described the concept saying, "It's a surrealistic nightmare dream-fantasy through the desolate empty streets of New York City at night. There's no people, there's no cars and you see the band as we encounter some fears and some fetishes, a series of challenges. It's a really ambitious, really cinematic short film." "Hurricane" was controversially received and was censored because of its elements of violence, nudity and sex. The short film was later released with a clean version that can air on television. Despite its censorship, "Hurricane" was praised by critics and was nominated for several awards, including the MTV Video Music Award for Best Direction. It was named the Most Epically Unforgettable Video of 2010 by MTV and won the O Music Award for Best NSFW Music Video.
Leto has appeared in several television commercials: one for the U.S. market, a Levi's Jeans commercial that aired in 1993. Other commercial appearances came in television spots for Hugo Boss in 2011. Leto, who is the face of the campaign for the HUGO Just Different fragrance, was directed by Jonas Åkerlund.
In June 2008, Leto and his bandmates joined forces with Hollywood for Habitat for Humanity to work on a home being repaired and renovated through the Habitat for Humanity of Greater Los Angeles Area's "A Brush With Kindness" programme. In advance of the build, the band organized an auction of "build slots" to give fans the opportunity to volunteer alongside them and their family and friends. In less than a week, six extra workers were enlisted and over $10,000 was raised to fund additional Habitat for Humanity projects. Leto also supported Habitat for Humanity Malaysia in Sentul in August 2008.
In April 2009, he attended An Evening of Women, an event that raises funds for legal, social, and cultural services of the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center. In October 2009, Leto raised money to the campaign against California Proposition 8, an initiative to overturn the state Supreme Court decision that had legalized same-sex marriage. Leto spoke out in support of LGBT rights group Freedom Action Inclusion Rights (FAIR). He took part in an online auction of celebrity-signed prints of Shepard Fairey's "Defend Equality Love Unites," a poster in support of gay marriage. Leto decided to make his poster different than the rest, by writing the words of the Proposition 8 ballot on it and then setting it on fire. He then placed the ashes in a jar, writing on it: "Here lies within, the remains of Proposition 8, may it rest in peace."
After the 2010 Haiti earthquake, Leto and his bandmates have employed eBay to raise $100,100 for Haitian relief. The charity auction included concert tickets, an exclusive backstage meet and greet, and dinner with the band. 30 Seconds to Mars has also supported the people of Haiti through the Echelon Project "House for Haiti" and the Hope for Haiti Now: A Global Benefit for Earthquake Relief. Leto released a book of photographs taken during his trip to Haiti in 2011, in a bid to raise funds for the earthquake-ravaged country. He has connected with and helped various organizations since arriving in Haiti, including Sean Penn's J/P Haitian Relief Organization. Leto spent a year in the Caribbean country during his childhood, and he returned there in January 2011 to "reconnect" with his former home following the devastating tremor of January 2010.
An auction of exclusive personal items and memorabilia donated by 30 Seconds to Mars raised funds to help the Red Cross support people affected by the 2011 Japanese earthquake and tsunami.
In July 2011, Leto began dating model and actress Katharina Damm. On July 18, he was spotted with Damm on the beach in Saint-Tropez.
In October 2006, Leto and his bandmates began their Welcome to the Universe Tour, which was "environmentally sound" according to an interview with then-bassist Matt Wachter. "Jared and Shannon put together this thing called Environmentour which is illustrating ways—alternatives—to kind of clean up some of the mess we leave behind. We fueled the bus with vegetable oil," he explained. In March 2011, Leto attended the Night of Generosity in Los Angeles, California. The event raised over $100,000 for Generosity Water, a non-profit organization dedicated to ending the clean water crisis in developing countries.
The Leto-directed music video of "A Beautiful Lie" was the first one ever to be shot 200 miles north of the Arctic Circle in Greenland. Determined to offset the impact that filming would have on the environment, Leto and the band worked with the Natural Resources Defense Council to develop strategies that would minimize fuel consumption on the shoot and purchased North American Blend Green Tags (a renewable energy certificate product) from the Bonneville Environmental Foundation. 30 Seconds to Mars also launched abeautifullie.org, which includes information about current environmental issues, ways to participate in environmental activities and more. In addition, people can make donations through the site to support the Natural Resources Defense Council.
In the 2008 presidential election, Leto supported Senator Barack Obama of Illinois. At the 2008 MTV Europe Music Awards, Leto and his bandmates wore Obama T-shirts, and he also asked the crowd to stand in honour of the Democratic senator.
+ Producer | ||
! Year | ! Title | Notes |
2001 | Sol Goode | Co-producer |
2007 | Chapter 27 | Executive producer |
2011 | Artifact | Post-production |
+ Television | |||
! Year | ! Title | ! Role | Notes |
1992–1993 | Camp Wilder | Dexter | 2 episodes |
1993 | Rick Aiken | Episode: "The Fox and the Hound" | |
1994–1995 | My So-Called Life | Jordan Catalano | |
1994 | Cool and the Crazy | Michael | TV film |
1998 | Himself | Episode: "Alaska's Bush Pilots" | |
2003 | Himself | Episode: "Posehn, Papa and Mars" | |
2003 | Himself | Documentary film | |
2006 | Narrator | Documentary film |
Category:1971 births Category:30 Seconds to Mars members Category:Actors from Louisiana Category:American activists Category:American environmentalists Category:American film actors Category:American film directors Category:American film producers Category:American humanitarians Category:American male singers Category:American multi-instrumentalists Category:American music video directors Category:American photographers Category:American record producers Category:American rock guitarists Category:American rock singer-songwriters Category:American television actors Category:American vegans Category:American vegetarians Category:American voice actors Category:English-language singers Category:Living people Category:Musicians from Louisiana Category:People from Bossier City, Louisiana Category:School of Visual Arts alumni Category:University of the Arts (Philadelphia) alumni
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