Jared Joseph Leto (/'l?to?

/; born December 26, 1971) is an American actor, singer,

songwriter, and director. After starting his career with television appearances in
the early 1990s, Leto achieved recognition for his role as Jordan Catalano on the
television series My So-Called Life (1994). He made his film debut in How to Make
an American Quilt (1995) and received critical praise for his performance in
Prefontaine (1997). Leto played supporting roles in The Thin Red Line (1998), Fight
Club (1999) and American Psycho (2000), as well as the lead role in Urban Legend
(1998), and earned critical acclaim after portraying heroin addict Harry Goldfarb
in Requiem for a Dream (2000). He later began focusing increasingly on his music
career, returning to acting with Panic Room (2002), Alexander (2004), Lord of War
(2005), Lonely Hearts (2006), Chapter 27 (2007), and Mr. Nobody (2009). In 2012, he
directed the documentary film Artifact. In 2016, he played the DC Comics
supervillain Joker in the DC Extended Universe film Suicide Squad.

Leto's performance as a transgender woman in Dallas Buyers Club (2013) earned him
an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, and a Screen Actors Guild Award for Best
Supporting Actor. Leto is considered to be a method actor, known for his constant
devotion to and research of his roles. He often remains completely in character for
the duration of the shooting schedules of his films, even to the point of adversely
affecting his health.[1] He is also known to be selective about his film roles.[2]

Leto is the lead vocalist, multi-instrumentalist and main songwriter for Thirty
Seconds to Mars, a band he formed in 1998 in Los Angeles, California, with his
older brother Shannon Leto. Their debut album, 30 Seconds to Mars (2002), was
released to positive reviews but only to limited success.[3] The band achieved
worldwide fame with the release of their second album A Beautiful Lie (2005). Their
following releases, This Is War (2009) and Love, Lust, Faith and Dreams (2013),
received further critical and commercial success.[4] As of September 2014, the band
has sold over 15 million albums worldwide.[5] Leto has also directed music videos,
including the MTV Video Music Awardwinning "The Kill" (2006), "Kings and Queens"
(2009), and "Up in the Air" (2013).