Jared Leto: with his latest role as the reputed lover of Alexander The Great in Oliver Stone's new movie on the infamous conqueror, the once ambivalent teen heartthrob, born travel rat, budding rock star, and reluctant thespian is no longer running away from audience's expectations—he's facing them head-on

Interview, Dec, 2004 by David Fincher

DF: And you had to go through six hours of makeup and then get pummeled. You don't get pummeled or disfigured in Alexander, do you?

JL: Well, yeah, I kind of do. I'm trying to keep that trend up.

DF: Then I'll be there opening night. As long as Leto gets disfigured, I'm there.

JL: Bastard. [laughs] But I was really psyched to do Alexander. I had the audition, and then Oliver went around the world, seeing other people for the part. I kept hearing that I was the top choice for the role, but then I would find out that he was still auditioning guys in London. It was like that for a month or two. But it ended up happening, and we had this crazy adventure in Morocco, Thailand, and England.

DF: How was Morocco?

JL: It was bizarre, man. I've done a lot of traveling, but when you're in Morocco, which is a Muslim country, as moderate as the culture there is, it's still really intense. It is so different. But I fell in love with it. Working on Alexander in Morocco, I felt like John Malkovich in The Sheltering Sky [1990]. I kept thinking to myself, "You know, I could live here for a while." The sunsets, the mint tea, the call to prayer that echoes through the whole country--it's all eerie at first, but I grew to love it. It's so beautiful, just incredible. I mean, you give my grandmother a camera over there, and she would come back with amazing pictures.

DF: So, Val Kilmer. Do tell.

JL: I'll tell you the strangest thing about Val Kilmer: He is so unbelievably nice. He's the nicest guy to work with.

DF: So his evil is hidden?

JL: [laughs] You know, people have heard stories about Val, but everybody on the set, all the other actors and stuff--we all loved him. He was great. He was a joy to work with, and he kicked ass in his part. It's odd because he's playing Colin's father. When you first think of Val, you think he might be too young to pull that off, but it really fits.

DF: He's got a weight, a presence onscreen.

JL: He's a great actor, hands down. He wasn't in Morocco for three and a half months like the rest of us were, but when he came in and started working, he was great. It was really fun.

DF: And you liked Colin Farrell?

JL: Colin's cool. He's almost like an Irish Brad Pitt. The first time I met Brad, I was, like, wanting him to be my best friend because he was so nice and cool and easygoing and funny. Colin has a lot of those same qualities. But he also works his ass off, too. I never saw that guy forget a line. He plays hard, but he works even harder. He really nailed it with this movie. Overall, making Alexander was a really solid experience. It was an adventure. It wasn't like when we made Panic Room--I actually had some fun this time.

DF: [laughs] Okay, we can turn the tape off now.

JL: No, it's just that I don't usually enjoy acting,

DF: Yeah?

JL: I really don't. I hate acting, to tell you the truth. But there are moments when I've enjoyed it, and I had a really good time on Panic Room because as an actor working with you, you know that no matter how big a fool you make of yourself--like I did in that movie--you're going to be okay because you're in good hands.