Last night, Thirty Seconds To Mars vocalist Jared Leto completed an incredible awards season run, garnering the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor at the 86th Academy Awards. Leto beat out Hollywood heavyweights Michael Fassbender and Bradley Cooper, among others, for the award. Leto’s co-star, Matthew McConaughey, won the award for Best Actor in the same category. Leto and McConaughey swept the Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor categories this year, also winning Golden Globes and SAG Awards for their respective roles. Both starred in the Focus Features film Dallas Buyers Club, directed by Jean-Marc Vallée. In another incredible acceptance speech Leto thanked his mother for encouraging him to be creative and work hard, his brother for joining him on the Thirty Seconds To Mars journey, and The Academy. He humbly praised his fellow nominees for their talent and hard work, and he dedicated the award to all those who have lost their lives to HIV and AIDS, and to those who are still fighting the battle. Leto’s acceptance speech can be viewed above.
Leto started out as an actor, debuting in 1994 on the television drama My So-
Called Life. Throughout his successful acting career, Leto has appeared in films like The Thin Red Line (1998), Urban Legend (1998), Girl, Interrupted (1999), Requiem for a Dream (2000), American Psycho (2000), and Panic Room (2002). In 1999, Leto appeared in the David Fincher masterpiece, Fight Club. In one of the underground fight scenes, star Brad Pitt’s character is making a speech, stating, “We’ve all been raised on television to believe that one day we’d all be millionaires, and movie gods, and rock stars. But we won’t. And we’re slowly learning that fact. And we’re very, very pissed off.” The moment Pitt says “rock stars”, he looks directly at Leto. Just one year before the film’s release, Leto formed Thirty Seconds To Mars, and the now multi-platinum outfit has gone on to sell over 10 million albums worldwide.
Thirty Seconds To Mars formed in Los Angeles, CA in 1998. Since then, they have released four studio albums and three EPs that have sold over 10 million copies combined. The band’s 2002 self-titled debut LP hit #107 on the Billboard Top 200, and supported bands like Incubus, Chevelle, Sevendust, and Puddle of Mudd on tour. Their sophomore effort, 2006′s A Beautiful Lie, hit #36 on the Billboard Top 200. The album produced four singles, including the smash-hit “The Kill”. The album went on to be certified platinum. They supported the album by touring with The Used and Linkin Park, and playing several festivals including Rock am Ring, Pinkpop, Download Festival, and more. In 2009, the band re-grouped in the studio and released their third album, This Is War. The album hit #18 on the Billboard Top 200, and featured another smash single, “Kings and Queens”. The band toured relentlessly in support of the album, and set a Guinness World Record for “Longest Concert Tour by a Rock Band”, playing 309 shows in just over two years.
In May 2013, Thirty Seconds to Mars released their much-anticipated fourth
studio album, Love Lust Faith + Dreams. The disc debuted at #6 on the Billboard Top 200, giving the band it’s first Top 10 hit record. Throughout their decorated career, Thirty Seconds To Mars have garnered 6 Kerrang! Awards, 1 Billboard Music Award, 1 NME Award, and 11 MTV Awards in 4 countries. Over the summer, Thirty Seconds To Mars took home the award for Best Rock Video at the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards for their single, “Up In The Air”. This year’s win marks the band’s third VMA win. Throughout their career, Thirty Seconds To Mars have been nominated for twelve Video Music Awards. – by Matt Bishop (Top Left Photo Courtesy of Kevin Winter – Getty Images, Top Right Photo Courtesy of Jordan Strauss – Invision/AP)