In the film Dallas Buyers Club,
Jared Leto plays a transgender woman who is living with HIV. He told
Fresh Air's Terry Gross that he was “seduced” by the role
of Rayon.
In the movie released Friday, Matthew
McConaughey plays a homophobe who acquires HIV and develops a working
relationship with Rayon.
The film is loosely based on the life
of Ron Woodroof, a foulmouthed womanizer who in 1986 was diagnosed
with HIV/AIDS and given 30 days to live. He was prescribed AZT, the
only legal HIV drug available at the time in the United States, but the
drug's side effects brought Woodroof to the brink of death. With the
help of his doctor, Eve Saks (played by Jennifer Garner) and Rayon,
Woodroof created the nation's first club selling alternative and
experimental treatments to combat HIV/AIDS. He died in 1992, 2,161
days later than doctors had anticipated. (The film's trailer is
embedded on this page. Visit
our video library for more videos.)
Leto's last acting credit was playing
Nemo Nobody in the 2009 film Mr. Nobody. Leto said that he's
devoted the last five years to Thirty Seconds to Mars, the
band he formed in 2002 with his brother Shannon Leto. (Tomo
Milicevic later joined the band.)
“This is your first movie in five
years. You've been touring with your band. What was it about this
movie that brought you back?” Gross asked.
“Well, I was seduced by this
beautiful creature Rayon and a wonderful script and the potential and
possibility to be a part of something that was really special,”
Leto answered.
Leto said that he lost between 30 and 40
pounds for the role.
“I would never suggest anyone do it –
gain or lose – but in this particular case I was playing a drug
addict who was dying of AIDS and I felt it was important and would
also provide a certain amount of fragility to the character. … [I]t
was an essential element of the character-building.”