Jared Leto on the Struggle to Gain Weight: 'I'm Terrible at Eating a Lot'
While most people are actively trying to lose weight, Jared Leto has a hard time putting it on.
The 43-year-old Oscar-winning actor is currently putting on the pounds to play the Joker in the comic-book supervillain movie Suicide Squad, which starts filming in April. But Leto reveals to Billboard magazine that he's actually "terrible" at it.
"I'm trying to gain a lot of weight. It means I have to eat every couple of hours -- and I'm terrible at eating a lot," he shares with the magazine.
PHOTOS: Shocking Movie-Role Body Transformations
This of course isn't the first time Leto, a long-time vegan, has taken his weight to the extreme. He gained more than 60 pounds to play John Lennon's assassin, Mark David Chapman, in 2007's Chapter 27, and famously fasted to play Rayon, a transsexual woman with AIDS, in 2013's Dallas Buyers Club. He ended up winning Best Supporting Actor at last year's Oscar for his performance.
A look at a recent picture Leto himself posted on Valentine's Day does show off his notably buffer physique.
"It can be an incredibly rewarding, but also destructive, thing to do," he says about both gaining and losing weight in such short amounts of time. "Your body changes forever."
The My So-Called Life heartthrob shares that many actors call him for advice on extreme weight regiments, though he "always try[s] to talk people out of it."
As for Leto's constant busy schedule as both an in-demand actor and lead singer for 30 Seconds to Mars, he chalks up his restlessness to his artistry.
"I'm terminally dissatisfied," he admits. "That's probably part of being an artist."
Surprisingly, he feels he's more talented as a musician than an artist.
"I've been onstage more hours than I've been in front of a camera," he explains.
And he also says claims he doesn't get paid much for either artistic endeavor.
"I've never made money from films," he declares. "It's a challenge to make money from music these days -- that's one of the reasons I've been really entrepreneurial."
VIDEO: Who Inspires Jared Leto?
ET caught up with Leto last February at the Oscar nominee luncheon, when he revealed his hidden "natural" talent. Watch below!
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