“I should have worn a diaper”: the actor who left Jared Leto in need of fresh underwear
When Jared Leto signs on to a film these days, it’s almost a given that he has a series of unconventional plans ready to embody his character. The real question isn’t if he’ll go method, but rather how extreme he’ll go with it. Interestingly, during the filming of a 2021 thriller alongside a formidable A-list co-star, Leto wasn’t the only one embracing ‘method’ techniques.
John Lee Hancock’s The Little Things brought together three Oscar winners in Leto, Rami Malek, and Denzel Washington, to tell the moody tale of two mismatched detectives zeroing in on an oddball loner they think is responsible for a spate of serial killings. Washington and Malek played the cops, and Leto – obviously – took on the part of Albert Sparma, a local repair store worker who seems too damn creepy not to be a killer.
Leto wore a prosthetic nose and fake teeth as Sparma, on top of piling on a few pounds to get in the zone. When Washington was asked if Leto used any method acting techniques to inhabit the character of Sparma when dealing with him, though, he smiled, “He didn’t do any of that with me. Nah. He’d have been paid a visit. That wouldn’t happen.” However, the actor said they kept a healthy distance from each other, as they felt it benefitted how their characters came across on-screen. Washington confirmed, “I stayed away from him. He stayed away from me, respectfully so. We’d bow or nod from across the highway.”
Fascinatingly, Washington then revealed that he turned the tables on Leto while shooting the movie. Instead of Leto using “the method” on him, Washington dabbled in the craft himself. He ominously revealed, “I’d follow him around. I was outside of his apartment sometimes, and he didn’t know. I won’t say anything more about it. I’ll put it this way: he didn’t know.”
While it’s entirely possible this was simply Washington indulging in a spot of dark humour, it may partially explain why Leto was so intimidated by him. During a Variety feature with Washington’s son John David – star of Tenet and The Creator – Leto confessed, “I showed up ready for war. I knew I had to be on my A game, and I came in over-prepared.”
An intrigued John David asked if Leto arrived on set every day in character as Sparma, and Leto smiled, “That’s right”. However, he quickly added that everyone had fun on the movie, and there was a lot of mutual respect between the actors. Still, John David was already distracted by imagining Leto walking around day-to-day pretending he was a serial killer. He chuckled, “I just automatically think, ‘I wonder what he did for research. Did he try some of this stuff out in real life?'”
Amusingly, Leto then told John David, “On the first day, I should have worn a diaper because it was rather intimidating.” All things considered, the star did well to take the comment in stride and not burst out laughing. After all, it’s not every day an Oscar winner tells you they were so scared of your father that they felt like soiling themselves.
Maybe Leto was aware of Washington lurking in the shadows outside his apartment, after all. In all seriousness, though, Leto confirmed he found the experience of acting alongside an icon like Washington to be hugely fulfilling. He explained, “I was in my zone, but I noticed very quickly the smallest change or gesture or improvisation, and Mr. Washington — boom, he’s right there with me.”
