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Comment by ceejayoz | Hacker News Reader

I don't understand how Jared Leto keeps getting starring roles.

It's the Stonecutters. They did it before with Steve Guttenberg.

There was a pretty painful to watch moment where he showed up to an opening night at a movie theater[0]. My favourite comment: "There are more seconds to mars than people in attendance."

[0] https://x.com/VHSDVDBLURAY4K/status/1979279709189083618

We could also ask why Tron sequels keep getting made. The first one lost money and so did the second.

Wasn't himself the director or producer?

Correct. This was initially being developed shortly after "Legacy but the failure of "Tomorrowland" canned the whole thing. Leto came on years later, offered to produce it and star in the film and brought the project back from the dead. This is basically his film, it doesn't exist without Leto as the lead

I really liked him in WeCrashed. He was the perfect kind of strange for that part.

He basically made the role for himself. He was not casted.

My assumption is he has the best agent in the world

I think he's done after this one.

He's already been cast as (and I can't believe I'm about to type this) Skeletor in the Masters of the Universe reboot.

He’s this generation’s Nicholas Cage

Cage can laugh at himself, though.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Unbearable_Weight_of_Massi...

I think he just likes making films.

I believe Cage had a massive tax bill to pay at some point which led to him appearing in basically anything he was offered, including what is without doubt the worst film I have ever watched, Left Behind [1]. One review I read said something along the lines of "phoning it in would be too kind a description, Cage is so devoid of effort or emotion in this film he regularly appears to have been photoshopped in afterwards" which really summed it up perfectly.

Having said that, both before and after the money trouble, he made some superb movie choices and put in some outstanding performances - think Wild at Heart, Pig, Unbearable Weight etc. Hats off to you Nick.

[1] https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2467046/

Their style of intensity and overacting do have some overlap. They've also both demonstrated that, when they care, they can be excellent and nuanced actors.

But Cage's intensity often comes up as kind of funny or endearing. Leto's overacting is often cringy/edgy or downright unpleasant. Which seems to represent both their personalities too.

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