Why couldn’t Jared Leto cry in 17 years? ( Photo Credit – Instagram )
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The actor-musician, Jared Leto, promoting 30 Seconds to Mars’ new album It’s the End of the World But It’s a Beautiful Day, dropped the bombshell while discussing emotional music. “I haven’t cried in about 17 years,” he said. “The last time was because I stubbed my toe.” The reason? “Maybe I shed them all in Requiem for a Dream.”
The 2000 addiction drama, directed by Darren Aronofsky, left scars. Leto played Harry Goldfarb, a heroin addict whose spiral into despair mirrored the film’s harrowing tone. “I cried so much during the making of that movie,” he admitted. But the real tearjerker came off-camera. During a scene requiring raw emotion, Leto received a life-shattering call: A close friend had been shot in the head. “The emotion that came at that moment…I recognized what a brutal loss this was,” he recalled.
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Instead of halting production, Leto’s method was channeling his grief. “I realized what a bad actor I was because it didn’t really touch anything I’d done in this scene,” he said. He requested another take, weaving his anguish into the performance. “That’s what’s in the movie when I’m talking on the phone. So in a way, [my friend] lives in that scene.”
The role cemented Leto’s reputation for extreme method acting—a trait he carried into Oscar-winning turns like Dallas Buyers Club (2013). Yet Requiem lingered as a emotional exorcism. “I’m just like a lizard. I don’t think my tear ducts work properly,” he joked, deflecting vulnerability.
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Years later, Leto’s focus has shifted. His band’s sixth album, born during the pandemic, leans into “bright newness” and “optimism.” But darkness persists. “Of course, there are darker sides we explore,” he told host Jo Whiley. “We like to explore a lot of different things.”
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The interview peeled back Leto’s enigmatic persona. Behind the Marvel/DC roles and rockstar bravado lies a man who weaponizes pain for art. His tearless streak? Less a flex, more a relic of a role that drained him. Requiem didn’t just cost him tears—it reshaped his emotional blueprint.
As for that stubbed toe? A rare slip in a life mastered. Leto’s tears may be spent, but his stories? Forever raw.
