14 DAY TRIAL // Jared Leto may walk home with an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for his role in “Dallas Buyers Club” at this year’s edition of the Academy Awards, for which he lost 40 pounds (18.1 kg). He’s no stranger to fluctuating weight for work, as his fans must know, but he swears he’d never get fat again for a movie.
Before “Dallas Buyers Club,” Leto reaped critical acclaim for his transformation and performance in “Chapter 27,” in which he played John Lennon’s murderer, Mark Chapman.
The film failed to impress for a variety of reasons, but Leto’s performance didn’t pass unnoticed. One of the things that made it remarkable was the fact that he chose to gain 67 pounds (30.3 kg) for the role, a decision he comes very close to regretting when he thinks of its consequences.
It’s not that he’s sorry to have taken the part, but he tells The Guardian he would never do it again.
“Really, it's a stupid thing to do. I got gout, and my cholesterol went up so fast in such a short time that my doctors wanted to put me on Lipitor, which is for much, much older people. Again, though, a fascinating journey,” the 42-year-old actor says.
“I had some reservations because I love everything John Lennon ever did. But in the end I wanted to explore a specimen embodying the total failure of humanity, just walk down this brutal path again,” he continues.
As for how he got back in shape, Leto adds that “I lost a lot of it by going on tour, not straight away, but I was still kinda waddling around on stage for the first few dates, and eventually it came back off, thank God.”
For the role of Rayon, a transgender woman diagnosed with AIDS, the actor dropped 40 pounds (18.1 kg) from his already slender (but muscular) frame. He explains that he spent a lot of time in character, even going out to stores dressed as Rayon because he wanted to see how people would react.
He based his performance on the feedback he received.
“You kind of have to register reactions and things, so inevitably the day comes when you take her out for a walk: shaved, waxed, wigged-up, the whole bit. To get a little judgment, some meanness, a little condemnation was a useful thing for the part. I went to Whole Foods Market to, I guess, just stare at the food, because I certainly wasn't eating a whole lot of it,” he says.