DEALING DRUGS, SAVING LIVES TEXT: SIAN EDWARDS / THE INTERVIEW PEOPLE 12
Interview / Jared Leto Returning to acting after nearly six years away from Hollywood to concentrate on his award-winning band Thirty Seconds to Mars, Jared Leto (41) plays in Dallas Buyers Club alongside Matthew McConaughey and Jennifer Garner. Leto, known to have a taste for the slightly unorthodox parts, might have taken on his most challenging role yet. In his latest lm, he portrays HIV positive transgender woman Rayon, who partners up with fellow patient Ron Woodrof (McConaughey) to sell illegal HIV drugs. Interesting fact: Leto didn’t break character once, on or off set, during the entire production. Apparently, you stayed in character for the entire lm. Yes, I was. How could you not be? How could you leave that beautiful creature? Do you always do that? I’ve done it a million times, but not on all films. I worked with David Fincher on Panic Room and I certainly wasn’t in character for that film. It was a very long shoot and I just didn’t think it was a necessity. I try and stay as close as humanly possible and with my role in Dallas Buyers Club, there were so many characteristics, so many attributes that were miles away from the way I live my daily life, even if you just talk about the voice, the mannerisms, every time the camera cut, I couldn’t just drop all that and then every time they said action, pick it back up and remember. It didn’t work like that, so I just chose to stay there. So how do you say goodbye to the character once the lming’s done? That’s a good question. It’s kind of bittersweet because you are saying goodbye to an enormous amount of work, but you are also getting back to yourself. There was a story about the first woman who sailed around the world alone, a French woman, and they asked her the most difficult thing about the journey. She said the most difficult thing was when she returned to France and she had to step foot on land again, because she had gotten so used to that challenge, so there’s a bit of that feeling at times. Rumour has it, you had to get down to 116 pounds in just three weeks. How did you pull that off? I got down to about 114 and then I stopped counting. I lost over 30 pounds, but it didn’t matter at that point. I have lost weight before, for Requiem for a Dream, and I gained 60 pounds for a movie called Chapter 27, so I have a 90-pound difference between that one and this one. The weight is interesting, because first off, it provides a certain amount of fragility, but it also affects your energy and the way you walk, talk, laugh and breathe. It’s a great asset, to tell you the truth, and it’s also a commitment you can’t run away from. It brings with it an incredible focus. Did you ever cheat on your diet? One time I came home for Thanksgiving and I told myself, ‘Man, on Thanksgiving, I am going to eat. I am going to cheat one day, and I am going to eat, damn it’. I eat really healthy, so I was excited for my Tofukey, and my cranberry sauce and stuffing and all that, I love that meal. So I get home and I’m with my mum, my brother, some family, and I go to eat and I just couldn’t do it. I couldn’t bring myself to do it. I felt too guilty, so I took one bite and put the rest away. It was quite an experience, I will never forget it. What do you like about your character, Rayon? Her sense of humor, her compassion, I think she’s kind of a hot mess. 13