Jared Leto On His Metamorphosis Into Paolo Gucci In 'House Of Gucci'

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• Jared Leto Praises Kelvin Harrison Jr.’s Performance in ‘Cyrano,’ Talks the ‘Psychological’ Pressures of Acting
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• Jared Leto On His Metamorphosis Into Paolo Gucci In ‘House Of Gucci’

The very first draft had a ten-page opening sequence. It was the history of the brand and the Gucci family. One of my favorite openings ever is the first five minutes of Bram Stoker’s Dracula by Francis Ford Coppola. The other thing that got cut was a voiceover throughout the movie that I wrote for Patrizia.

Jared Leto Praises Kelvin Harrison Jr.’s Performance in ‘Cyrano,’ Talks the ‘Psychological’ Pressures of Acting

Jared Leto Went Completely Nuts For 'House of Gucci' - W Magazine

Jared Leto Went Completely Nuts For 'House of Gucci'.

Posted: Thu, 13 Jan 2022 08:00:00 GMT [source]

But she was so good and she really took the cues that were in the story and in the script, and just ran with it. The most important thing about Jared Leto’s performance as Paolo Gucci is that it showcases just how bonkers this story is through and through. It wasn’t immediately evident to me watching House of Gucci at first, but once Paolo is carrying on, it starts to come together. The way this family tore itself apart so easily is astounding, and, given all the things that happen, it’s hard to argue that Paolo is even the whackiest part of the true story.

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Leto’s Paolo is the family black sheep — a dreamer with a vision that deviates from the fashion house’s tasteful colors and designs. Hours of makeup each day went into Leto’s look for the Ridley Scott movie, which hits theaters Nov. 24. The concept began with prosthetics designer Göran Lundström, who worked off a 3D scan without having met the actor. “I didn’t know his hair color, his hairline and skin tone,” explains Lundström, who had just three weeks to prepare. Speaking of femme fatales, what other movies did you draw from while writing the script?

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When we were testing the makeup, I didn’t want anyone to see me — we didn’t want more voices in the room. But someone from wardrobe walked in on us, a beautiful and lovely Italian man. He was so moved that Paolo Gucci was standing in front of him. That was a really intense moment; I was shocked and didn’t know what to do. But he was the first witness to Göran’s work. This doesn’t happen too often, but there was a magical synergy that’s an example of Göran’s craft and artistry, and it proves how pivotal hair and makeup can be.

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LETO I watched Border, and you could tell there was the work of a master craftsman there — there’s a genius at work. Then I started asking around town, and everyone had wonderful things to say about Göran. If you got to look at every tiny liver spot, every bit of sun damage, every flake of skin, every mole that was put on the face, it’s quite astounding. If [Göran had] made it two-dimensional, he’d be painting an image every day, over and over again.

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Covering his face in prosthetics still prompts fear in Leto, who had a claustrophobic experience while making a mold for his character's badly bruised face at the end of 1999's Fight Club. Yet, Gucci was enticing enough for the actor to go bold. LETO When you play a real person, it’s important to do your due diligence, to bring to life an impression of that person with as much dignity and grace as you can muster. Paolo Gucci was a public person, and it was important to have a representation of him — it’s never going to be Paulo Gucci.

You don't know if you start hearing that stuff as a kid and then you take on the attributes. Some of the stereotypical attributes and characteristics are true. I'm very committed, very focused, but so are lots of people.

Jared Leto On His Metamorphosis Into Paolo Gucci In ‘House Of Gucci’

An eccentric rich person that is a little off is, frankly, the most believable part of the story, though that could be why those close to Paolo Gucci take offense to the portrayal. Paolo Gucci is extra, Jared Leto’s performance is extra and, yes, his insistence on method acting would be described by some as extra. Say what you will about Leto’s methods, but his performance is great because it compensates for the many subdued performances we see in House of Gucci.

The film received mixed reviews from critics who praised the cast's performances but criticized the inconsistent tone and editing. Gaga and Leto were nominated for the Screen Actors Guild Award, Critics' Choice Award, and Satellite Award for Best Actress and Best Supporting Actor, respectively, while the former also received nominations for the Golden Globe Award and BAFTA Award. The film earned a nomination at the 94th Academy Awards for Best Makeup and Hairstyling.

The Oscar-winning actor and Oscar-nominated makeup designer Göran Lundström reveal the collaborative process of turning the actor into his unrecognizable on-screen persona, Paolo Gucci. On the first day of shooting, I showed up in character, as I do. I'm deep in Paolo Gucci, and I see my father, Aldo, Al Pacino, and I went up and said, “Papa! ” He looked at me and had no idea who I was, and basically said "Fuck off" and walked in the other direction. I said, "Maybe he's playing the cold, distant father. Maybe he's a little grumpy. I don't know." I went back up to him again, and he brushed me off again. Then someone leaned into him and said, "Al, it's Jared." And he turned around, he hit the floor, and raised his hands.

The act of becoming a new character is difficult for him to articulate, but he considers it his duty to devote his entire being to the process. "It's just what I'm interested in," he says, citing actors who "aren't afraid to bleed," like Peter Sellers and Daniel Day-Lewis. "When you make that kind of commitment, there's something that happens. You're compelled to dig even deeper, to work even harder, to discover something more rewarding and richer." When Patrizia Reggiani, an outsider from humble beginnings, marries into the Gucci family, her unbridled ambition begins to unravel their legacy and triggers a reckless spiral of betrayal, d...

But in the same way that I would look at articles and talk to friends and family and do research, the same thing is happening externally as well as internally. You go on a journey, and you become a detective. You’re looking at someone’s earlobes, at their hairline, where he may be losing hair or when his hair went gray. You become an author, in a sense, and you try to write the best story that you can.

A former art student reared on sculpture, he sees the act of chiseling his looks as a vital tool, even if the changes aren't immediately noticeable—like his 2021 turn as a suspected murderer opposite Denzel Washington in The Little Things. Leto confirms that he made tweaks to the character's physicality—everything from his eye color to his teeth to the shape of his nose—though he's careful not to reveal any specifics. Despite the grim tone, Leto listened to his gut and amplified "a lot of humor" while playing the heavily accented, purple-suit-wearing dandy. Working with Oscar-winning costumer Janty Yates, Leto advocated for Paolo's wardrobe to "celebrate color" via extreme patterns and fabrics from Naples; he also underwent hours of makeup and prosthetic work each day. He became so invested in the production that he had to fight back tears the moment Scott wrapped Leto on his final day. "Only in Paris do you get chestnuts falling from the sky."

Maybe I probably shouldn’t, but until you prove to me that I shouldn’t, I’m going to give it a shot. In Variety‘s Up Next, we asked four Oscar winners to pick the one person who represents the future of Hollywood. In one scene in House of Gucci, he let me have it, and I’ll tell you, it’s ferocious.

For me, most actors want to be noticed — and most producers don’t really want to pay for actors that you can’t recognize. For MGM/United Artists’ House of Gucci, Jared Leto plays Paolo Gucci, the middle-aged, overweight and balding cousin of Adam Driver’s Maurizio Gucci. Equipped with heavy prosthetics, a fat suit and a receding hairline, Leto is nearly unrecognizable in the film — an evolution that went beyond the physical, as Leto also adopted a new accent and mannerisms for the part.

Only Pacino comes close to matching Leto’s parodic screen presence; later scenes pairing the two in states of tragic disarray look like outtakes from an Italian remake of Little Britain. But after combing through an immense amount of research, Leto had three weeks to turn himself into a man, he literally looked nothing like. The actor on his own enlisted prosthetic designer Göran Lundström and wigmaker AnnaCarin Lock to come up with Paolo’s look. Scott, nor any of the cast, reportedly had any idea of what Leto’s look would be.