Jared Leto Biography

Jared Joseph Leto was born in Bossier City, Louisiana, United States, on December 26, 1971 (currently, 46 years old) is an American multi-instrumentalist, actor, director and producer, Oscar winner, Golden Globe, SAG, among other awards. He is also known as a director by the name of Bartholomew Cubbins but is best known as the vocalist, guitarist, bassist, pianist, composer, and founder of the alternative rock band 30 Seconds to Mars.

He lived in his hometown until his parents divorced when he was little, custody was left to his mother Constance After the separation, Jared lived with his older brother, Shannon Leto, his mother and grandfather. Jared and his family moved to different places like Colorado, Virginia, Wyoming, and Haiti for work reasons.

The two brothers, influenced from childhood by the love of art for their mom, formed a rock band. The first instrument that little Jared learned was a piano. He himself has declared in interviews that his musical influences are: Nirvana, Alice in Chains, Deftones, Led Zeppelin, Guns N ‘Roses, Pearl Jam, The Goo Goo Dolls, Stone Temple Pilots, Everclear, Pink Floyd, Radiohead, The Cure, and U2. «I grew up in an atmosphere of actors, musicians, photographers and different theater actors».

He left school when he was in tenth grade, however, after some time, he decided to return and focus on his education by entering Flint Hill High School in Oakton, Virginia. He graduated in 1989 from Emerson Preparatory School. Shortly after, Jared entered the University of Philadelphia, to study art with a specialization in painting. However, his interest turned to act, for which he left his studies as a painter. Later he would move to New York to begin classes on cinema at the New York City’s High School of Visual Arts. Being a student, he wrote and starred in his first short film: Crying Boy.

In 1992 Leto moved to Los Angeles to begin his acting career. In 1993 he got his first roles in television series such as Camp Wilder and Almost Home and My So-Called Life. A year later, he made his television debut in Cool and the Crazy, and his film debut came in the movie How to Make an American Quilt in 1995.

His first leading role was in Prefontaine (1997) which recreated the biography of the runner Steve Prefontaine. For the role, Leto investigated the life of the athlete, his family, and friends, adapting his voice and even his physical form. The transformation was so complete that, seeing it, Steve’s sister was moved to tears. His performance got very good reviews.

After his first leading role, Jared begins to obtain several roles in well-known films, such as Basil (1998), The Thin Red Line (1998), Black and White (1999), Fight Club (1999) and Interrupted Innocence (1999) together Winona Ryder and Angelina Jolie. For this last performance, Leto was nominated for an award from the Broadcast Film Critics Association in the category of best-supporting actor.

Jared tried very hard in his career as an actor, in Requiem for a Dream where he played a heroin addict, his preparation was extreme. Leto lived in the streets of New York and isolated completely, even interrupted contact with his girlfriend at the time, Cameron Diaz, for two months. His physical and emotional health was totally affected, he even lost 28 kilos on purpose, since it was necessary to interpret his character realistically.

Some more recent roles were: Chapter 27 (2007), Awake (2007), Mr. Nobody (2009), Dallas Buyers Club (2013), Suicide Squad (2016).

As for his musical career, Jared (vocalist and guitar) formed in 1998, along with his brother Shannon Leto (drums), the renowned band 30 Seconds To Mars, in Los Angeles, California. What began as a small family project, an illusion of children soon became a call to something bigger. Bassist Matt Wachter joined the band in 2001 and a little later, they also joined Solon Bixler on rhythm guitar and Kevin Drake on acoustic guitar.

Jared despite being a well-known Hollywood actor prefers not to use that information to promote the band. He has said that if the band has triumphed, it is because of their music; in fact, the band refused to play in places where their name is used as an actor to promote their concerts.

In 1999, the band signed their first contract with Virgin Records, with them in 2002, their first album came out, which, in general, received positive reviews. This album is generally described as a concept album.

At the end of 2002, guitarist Solon Bixler left the band due to personal problems. On January 29, 2003, the guitarist and follower of the band, Tomo Milicevic, presented the auditions to be the new guitarist, earning respect and acceptance of the members of the band, achieved his goal. Other albums are A Beautiful Lie (2005), This Is War (2009), Love, Lust, Faith, and Dreams (2013).