Jared Leto returns to the big screen in Tron: Ares this weekend, and it’s likely to be another dedicated and pretty method entry added to his filmography. All jokes aside, despite most of the stories about Leto’s method nature dominating his career in recent years, he has still given some solid performances. As audiences prepare to step back into The Grid again, let’s dive into Leto’s five best performances to date.

Honorable Mention: Fight Club (1999) as Angel Face

Leto’s role in David Fincher’s magnificent take on Chuck Palahniuk’s novel of the same name is a very small one, but his presence alone makes it memorable. As Angel Face, Leto is one of the younger members of the fight club run by Edward Norton’s unnamed narrator and Brad Pitt’s Tyler Durden (it all makes sense when you see it). It’s a part with limited dialogue, but it does show that Leto was willing to not just be a pretty face and do what was needed for the role, since his character takes a rough beating in a fight that leaves his face of an angel completely mangled.

After his beating, the character not only goes through a startling physical transformation, but he also becomes the image of the film’s social commentary on masculinity. It’s proof that not all parts need to be massive to make an impression.

5. Prefontaine (1997) as Steve Prefontaine

Leto received his first leading role performance in a big-screen endeavor playing long-distance runner Steve Prefontaine. Directed by Steve James from a screenplay he co-wrote with Eugene Corr, Prefontaine frames its story from the perspective of Bill Dellinger (Ed O’Neill), his assistant coach, and his girlfriend at the time of his death at 24, Nancy Alleman (Amy Locane). The movie received mixed reviews out of Sundance when it was released, but Leto’s performance earned much-deserved raves. The role was important in Leto’s career because, due to portraying Jordan Catalano on My So-Called Life, the actor was seen mostly as a pretty face, but Prefontaine showcased his dedication to meatier roles that went beyond his looks.

Leto offers up an energetic performance as Prefontaine and exudes the runner’s tenacity. This performance also provides an early example of Leto’s dedication when it comes to slipping into roles and making himself disappear. Something that might be the subject of some jokes today, but certainly made him one of the more interesting actors emerging at the time he was expanding his filmography.

4. Panic Room (2002) as Junior

Fincher gave Leto a much larger role than the one he received in Fight Club when he cast him as a villain in Panic Room. Written by David Koepp, the film centers on a recently divorced woman named Meg Altman (Jodie Foster) and her daughter, Sarah (Kristen Stewart), who are invaded in their home by a group of burglars.

While Forest Whitaker and Dwight Yoakam make an impression as two of the three burglars, it’s Leto that steals the show as Junior with his more unhinged portrayal. Complete with cornrolls and a menacing stare, it’s his unfiltered energy and unpredictability that make him stand out. Even though he’s not the lead, he is a big reason why the film reaches a heightened level of tension, making it one of Fincher’s more underrated efforts.

3. The Little Things (2021) as Albert Sparma

It’s a shame that The Little Things debuted during a time when studios were navigating the reopening of movie theaters during the COVID-19 pandemic. A psychological thriller starring Denzel Washington deserved more than a hybrid release in theaters and HBO Max, but what surprisingly deserved more was Leto’s committed turn as Albert Sparma, a man who is suspected of being a serial killer. Written and directed by John Lee Hancock, the film is set in Los Angeles during the early 1990s and follows two detectives played by Washington and Rami Malek who are investigating murders that may have been committed by Sparma.

By this point in his career, Leto was well-known for his method tendencies, and it’s his dedication to portraying Sparma that makes the role memorable. From his look to his delivery, Leto embodies the role of the loner who may be a serial killer, and, in the process, you can’t take your eyes off him. The fact that he draws attention away from Washington alone shows just how strong his performance his here. Leto’s work was so convincing that he earned both a Golden Globe and SAG nomination for Best Supporting Actor for his efforts.

2. Dallas Buyers Club (2013) as Rayon

Leto earned a much-deserved Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor portraying Rayon, a trans woman with AIDS who befriends Matthew McConaughey’s Ron Woodroof in Dallas Buyers Club. Directed by the late Jean-Marc Vallée from a screenplay by Craig Borten and Melisa Wallack, Dallas Buyers Club is based on the real-life Ron Woodroof, a promiscuous rodeo cowboy who contracts HIV/AIDS in the mid-1980s when the disease and its treatment weren’t completely understood, leading to much stigma in the process. Woodroof was instrumental in smuggling unapproved pharmaceutical drugs into Texas to not only treat his symptoms but also to make the drugs available to other AIDS patients by setting up the “Dallas Buyers Club.”

Rayon is one of two fictional characters created for the film as composite roles based on interviews with transgender AIDS patients, but Leto imbues Rayon was so much humanity that the character is given a breath of life that feels real. It would be easy to suggest that the character merely exists to showcase Woodroof’s growth as a person (he begins the film fiercely homophobic), but Leto makes sure that he portrays the role with a level of honesty that is so poignant that Rayon emerges as a fully formed character the audience can’t help but connect with.

1. Requiem for a Dream (2000) as Harry Goldfarb

As a character struggling with heroin addiction, Leto gives his absolute best performance in Darren Aronofsky’s Requiem for a Dream, a stirring tale of various characters dealing with different forms of drug addiction. Based on the 1978 novel of the same name by Hubert Selby Jr., Requiem for a Dream is an often hard-to-watch and unflinching look at how addiction consumes and destroys. However, what is hard to turn away from is Leto’s portrayal of Harry Goldfarb, which is equal parts vulnerable and heartbreaking to watch as he descends deeper into a black hole of drug-fueled despair.

Requiem for a Dream is littered with great performances from Ellen Burstyn (Oscar-nominated for her role), Marlon Wayans, and Jennifer Connelly, but at this point in his career, Leto showcased the absolute depths he could go to for a role, and there is nothing more harrowing and honest than the places he goes here. While the movie is decidedly bleak, it’s a masterclass in raw performances, and Leto more than holds his own while delivering his best turn as an actor in the process.

Tron: Ares opens nationwide this Friday.

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