Jared Leto is timeless — but don’t ask him his secret.
In a new interview with Men’s Health, the House of Gucci and WeCrashed star opens up about the relationship he has with his body, his mind and his fans around the world, who are relentlessly curious about his skincare secrets.
Jared Leto may look young forever, but that’s not exactly on purpose. The actor says it’s all about genetics and a healthy attitude towards life. (Photo by Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic)
“I have a good answer for that, but I probably won’t tell you,” said Leto, 50, when asked about his skincare routine, explaining that genetics play the most important role.
“Really, honestly, at the end of the day it doesn’t matter,” he explained of people’s obsession with his youthful looks, noting that Hollywood’s fixation on youth can be quite toxic.
“People started talking about my age and stuff like that ten years ago,” he said. “As you get older, people start saying, ‘Ah, you’re still young.’ And then there’s that age where they’re going, really?”
“Unfortunately, I don’t get roles in films where I play ‘a pretty young looking old man,'” he said. “Maybe I’m doing something wrong – I’m not using it enough. It just doesn’t matter. You can be 30 years old and have an amazingly exciting, interesting, and fulfilling life, or you can be 60 and in crisis. “
Leto, whose health and fitness regimen includes rock climbing and intense meditation, can’t help but observe society’s preconceived notions about weight — something he experienced first-hand when he gained 60 pounds to help Mark David in 2008 Playing Chapman in Chapter 27.
“What’s more important is: How is it changing the way you walk? How does it change the way you speak? How does it change the way people treat you?” he explained.
“I once gained over 60 pounds for a role, and it was amazing,” he said of Chapter 27. “I remember asking someone about the time in New York and they balked. I’ve seen people I knew who didn’t know I was filming and thought I fell off the – I don’t know how to describe it – that I “didn’t take care of myself”. They took it as a sign that something was wrong in my life. It was a really wild thing to experience.”
The story goes on
However, as he ages, Leto says, he gains a new relationship with his body — a relationship of respect and appreciation for stillness. But don’t confuse that with “settle down,” a phrase he hates.
“Why do you ever want to settle down?” he said. “Your physical body might leave you or your brain, and maybe then you can turn away from some goals and turn to others. You can be a hundred years old and take a very deep, mindful breath. That probably has its own challenges and rewards.”
Gaining or losing weight for specific roles is nothing new to Leto. In an interview with the Los Angeles Times last year, he explained the importance of his commitment.
“I’ve done this many times and it’s a great way to plant a flag in the ground for yourself,” he said of his extreme weight swings. “Because when you make that kind of physical commitment, it can really take away from a lot of the other traits or provoke other elements of the character.”
Still, “I don’t take it lightly, and I try to talk other actors out of it when they’ve called me in the past,” he explained. “I don’t think I’ll ever do it again. It becomes more difficult. It’s probably okay to do it once or twice in your career, but I certainly wouldn’t recommend it to anyone as a regular thing because I think it could get pretty dangerous.”
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