At this point we all know that Jared Leto is willing to go to any lengths for a role. He’s gone so far as to wax down his entire body and lose or gain weight as needed. He’s gone into full character and never come out until filming was over, and now he’s gone blind.
Well, he hasn’t really gone blind, but he did get into character for the upcoming Bladerunner 2049 movie in a way that many people might never have thought about. He went so far as to experience the world as a blind person for a time, purchasing special opaque contact lenses that left him quite literally in the dark. He would have to be helped around by an assistant and would walk slowly, carefully, and eventually become accustomed to the feeling of not being able to see a single thing.
That’s dedication, but a lot of people would claim that it’s crazy. Thankfully Leto doesn’t deny being crazy, but he’s definitely not stupid. He didn’t act like a blind man in the sense that he believed that he really couldn’t see, but he did act in this manner to prepare himself for the role. Some actors simply improvise, others plan. Leto is one of those that immerses himself so fully into the role that you don’t know where he begins and the character ends.
One thing you can say about him is that he definitely goes all out trying to make a role as real as it can be. He’s never shied away from any method he needs to use in order to get the job done. That’s actually very inspiring and very disturbing all at the same time.
On set his costars have ranged from calling him one of the worst people to work with to one of the nicest guys you’d ever want to meet. I kind of wonder at this point if that had anything to do with the preparation he puts into his roles. Think about it, being a nice guy is easy when you don’t have to alter your body and can come and go on set without any unreasonable or strange demands being put on your body. But if you’re forced to lose to much weight or gain too much then chances are that you might become moody, grumpy, and all around unpleasant to be with.
Leto is the kind of actor that you can see goes to great lengths to do his job, but he’s also the kind of actor that can easily rub someone the wrong way if he goes too far. In truth he’s kind of like a swinging pendulum that needs just a tap to be swayed in the right or wrong direction. When he swings back to true it’s never an easy or permanent setting either. He’ll eventually find a role that he’ll need to do anything and everything for and that pendulum will swing again and we’ll see either the best or the worst he has to give.
Turning himself into a blind man, even temporarily, is tame for this guy.
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