There have been many actors who have pointed out something serious that often takes place in the Hollywood industry and Jared Leto is no different. There are a lot of ups and downs that come with being a part of the industry and method acting is only the surface of it. Method actors go above and beyond to perfect themselves into their characters, sometimes even going so far as to sell their own houses.
Although method acting can get actors a massive amount of recognition, there are side effects to it. Whether it concerns their behavior or physical changes, it takes time for even actors like Leto to adapt to their characters. One such incident took everything out of him, especially because of the things he had to do.
Jared Leto Gained 67 Pounds for a Movie
Jared Leto works hard for every movie he makes. He goes above and beyond to get into his character’s mindset no matter what. Sometimes that would mean playing a bad guy, sometimes it would mean playing a good guy. However, there are times when even he hates the things he does for his roles. As quoted by IMDb;
“Once you gain 67 pounds or whatever I did, you’re never really the same. Even if you lose it, it’s really hard on your body. I’ve had actors and directors call me and say, can I ask you a few things about weight gain? The first thing I say is, don’t do it. I’ll spend 15 minutes on the phone with anybody, trying to talk them out of doing it. It’s like, just put a pillow in your shirt.”
The actor talked about working on Chapter 27. Although the actor has won various accolades, he does not find the idea of gaining and losing weight for a movie to be a good idea. He confirmed that no matter how much weight an actor is asked to gain or lose, it is a horrible idea to go through with it.
Jared Leto was Shamed for Gaining Weight
Jared Leto was not proud of the role he was playing, since Chapter 27 focused on the stalker turned murderer who had John Lennon’s blood on his hands. The actor even called him a failure of humanity. While talking with Sandy Mandelberge during the Sundance Film Festival, he confessed about how he felt having to gain 67 pounds for a role.
“Also, being overweight, I felt the rejection and mockery of people who didn’t know that I was just playing a part. Their response to me as an overweight and unattractive guy, just made me realize how isolated he felt, how unloved and how untouched by human beings. I kind of turned into a sculpture.”
He found himself feeling heavily isolated and different from the people around him. Suddenly Leto was viewed as a completely different person. The way he was feeling gave him an idea of how the character he was playing felt, and he did not like it at all.
