The Reason Requiem For A Dream Traumatized Jared Leto
Jared Leto has often pushed his boundaries when it comes to his movie roles and work. Whether dealing with physical or psychological challenges, the actor doesn't mind exploring his limits for a film. Case in point: his portrayal of a heroin addict in the 2000 film Requiem for a Dream. He wanted to do justice to his character, and started by shaping his body so that he would look the part. He lost a massive amount of weight for the role, and further prepared by spending time with drug addicts in New York.
"Every night was an adventure whether it was someone missing the vein in their arm and their hand fills up with poison, or they overdose, or you're hanging out and it's like, 'remember that girl we were hanging out with last night? Well she's dead!'" Leto said in an interview with Al Bawaba. "I got robbed one night but I just tried to become one of the group."
His health took a major beating
Ultimately, the role took a massive toll on his health and he lost his appetite. "I got increasingly sick as the film went on and I started getting addicted to losing weight. And more so addicted to the challenge of like, `you know you can do a little bit more.' There's a little voice in your head. I had a number that I wanted to get down to and that number kept getting lower as you get used to it! Because you look in the mirror and I didn't see myself as skinny," he said.
He suffered after filming was completed and had to go to a monastery in Portugal to recover. He spoke about how difficult it was for him to eat after the shoot ended."I started to eat this taco and I took like two or three bites and I was almost halfway through the taco which was an incredibly large meal for me because at the time I was only eating raw vegetables, a piece or two of broccoli and cucumbers I ate a lot. And someone said to me, `Woah look how much food you ate.'" He added that this put him a tough spot. He simply couldn't eat. "It was very difficult, emotionally," he said.