Jared Leto’s Still Really, Really Hot (And So’s His New Album)

Making the switch from actor to singer doesn't have a particularly great track record, with the not-so illustrious musical careers of actors — like Keanu Reeves, Russel Crowe, and, um, Lindsay Lohan — as trailblazers. But their music never went platinum, never commanded the attention of thousands of listeners devotedly calling themselves "Echelon." The success of 30 Seconds To Mars demonstrates that Jared Leto didn't just buck the image of a teen heartthrob, but he is just as powerful of a musician as he is an actor. Just as prolific, too, with both his Oscar bait Dallas Buyer's Club appearing this year and his new, already acclaimed album, Love, Lust, Faith and Dreams, about to hit shelves.

Leto talks to Mr. Porter about the pretty vicious feedback he's had with two careers. "There are always going to be people who don't like you...who go, 'F*** that guy, he shouldn't make music, he makes movies'. It's a bizarre attitude; it's like saying Julian Schnabel should never have directed films because he's an artist, or Jeff Koons used to work on Wall Street, what's with the art? I'm not saying I'm Schnabel or Koons, but you know what I mean." But Leto is the first to admit he had a pretty long history of bland music to combat as an actor-singer. "What I was faced with as well was a line of dilettantes who set a very bad example; there was a precedent set by people who, let's be honest, didn't do a very good job of making good, meaningful work."

In his shoot, Leto wears some sleek, minimal offerings from Saint Laurent and Bottega Veneta, and proves that he may be sacrificing to the gods of youth to stave off any signs of aging. Twenty years after he stole our collective hearts as Jordan Catalano, Leto still is a 100-percent heartthrob. Maybe 110%, in that Alexander Wang fitted sweatshirt...(Mr. Porter)