‘I wanted to be a creative person’

Jared Leto on Thirty Seconds to Mars, losing weight for Dallas Buyers Club and winning an Oscar ...

You’ve always struck me as a fairly private person. Do you hate giving interviews?

No, not at all. But if the interview’s bad, then it’s no fun, and by bad I mean routine, you know?

When you were preparing to play Rayon in

Yeah, definitely. I talked to transgender people and that was the education and the start of it all. I’m really grateful for those experiences.

Did you go method?

I stayed in character the entire shoot. I couldn’t imagine doing it another way. I’d gone too far to pick it up and drop it off.

Is it true you turned down the role several times?

Yes. I wasn’t looking to make a film, I hadn’t made one in years and I was beginning to think maybe I’d never make another one. But they were persistent and I thought the character was astounding.

Why did you think you weren’t going to make another film?

I hadn’t even read any scripts so I don’t know if there were any interesting ones around. I was busy and fulfilled with Thirty Seconds to Mars.

And now you have an Oscar …

Yes, although it’s not about a trophy or accolades or me. It’s about having a moment to stand in front of the world and acknowledge the people and things that mean so much.

You’ve manipulated your bodyshape for roles. Does that help you get into character?

It certainly works for me to have a physical commitment. I enjoy the challenge of a physical role.

How much weight did you have to lose for this role?

I lost around 40lbs (almost three stone/18kg) and then I stopped counting. For me, it was about how it made me feel, how it made other people treat me. I got down to something like 114lbs (about eight stone), and that was enough to do what I wanted it to do, which was to change everything about me.

How did it make other people treat you?

It provides you with a certain amount of fragility, it changes the way you walk and talk and think and move. It changes you inside and out.

Did you and Matthew McConaughey talk about you both losing so much weight for the film?

No, I only communicated with other people as Rayon, so I wasn’t talking about things like that with anyone.

Your film CV is pretty extraordinary:

Yeah, I would say so. I have never been in a hurry to make a film just to work. I want to be part of things that are meaningful and rewarding.

Were you more interested in music or film as a teenager?

I was more interested in art  I’m an art school dropout. But really, I just wanted to be a creative person who could make things, and that hasn’t changed.

So you never practised your Oscar acceptance speech in front of the mirror as a kid?

Oh no, no, no. As a kid I wasn’t even watching television, I was surrounded by hippies in a tepee in a commune in the middle of the forest. We certainly weren’t thinking of awards shows. I’ve never pined for awards. — Hadley Freeman, Guardian News & media

Hurley’s show to air in 2015

Actress Elizabeth Hurley will be seen as a fictional queen in the upcoming royal drama The Royals, which will go on air next year. Hurley portrays Queen Helena in the series about a fictional British royal family, reports contactmusic.com. Created by One Tree Hill’s Mark Schwahn, the show is set to premiere in the US in 2015. — IANS

People think I’d be a great villain: Jolie

Actress Angelina Jolie finds it funny how people think she makes a great villain and would be perfect to play the part of a wicked witch in Maleficent. The 38-year-old appears as the titular wicked witch in the film and says she was always drawn to the character when she was younger, reports contactmusic.com. “It is really funny when people say you’d be obvious for a great villain. She was just my favourite as a little girl. I was terrified of her, but I was really drawn to her. I loved her,” she told Entertainment Weekly magazine. “There were some discussions about it before I got the part and I got a phone call from my brother who said, ‘You’ve got to get your name on the list for this,” added Jolie. The star raises six children with her fiance Brad Pitt — Maddox, 12, Pax, 10, Zahara, nine, Shiloh, seven, and twins Vivienne and Knox, five. — IANS

Hoffman last film to release in May 

Late actor Philip Seymour Hoffman’s last movie as a leading man is set to release in summer this year. The movie, directed by John Slattery, has now been given a May 9 release date in the US, reports femalefirst.co.uk. Hoffman, who died on Feb 2 this year, filmed God’s Pocket in his native New York in 2013. Before his death, he promoted the drama, in which he stars as Mickey, a man who tries to cover up the accidental death of his stepson, at the Sundance Film Festival in Utah in January 2014. — IANS