Very straight Joker star Jared Leto confirms he’ll play queer visionary Andy Warhol in a new biopic
Jared Leto is set to play Andy Warhol in a new biopic. (Getty)
Jared Leto has confirmed he’ll play Andy Warhol in an upcoming biopic, four years after he was first rumoured for the part.
The Joker actor – who controversially played a trans woman in Dallas Buyers Club – said he is “grateful and excited” to be playing the gay artist in a since-deleted Instagram post.
‘Yes it’s true I will be playing Andy Warhol in an upcoming film,” he wrote on Thursday (August 6), which would have been the artist’s 92nd birthday.
“Happy birthday Andy,” he added. “We miss you and your genius.”
It is assumed the project is the same one Leto announced in 2016.
Titled Warhol, the actor was also slated to produce the biopic from a screenplay by The Wolf of Wall Street writer Terrence Winter.
Reports stated the film would be based on Victor Bockris 1989 biography of Warhol, Leto having acquired the rights with co-producer Michael De Luca.
Jared Leto admits gay actors ‘wouldn’t have the same opportunities’ as straight leading men, takes prize gay role anyway.
Jared Leto won his first (and to date, only) Oscar for his role in Dallas Buyers Club. The film retold the true story of Ron Woodroof, a man living with HIV who launched an underground scheme to distribute HIV medication.
Leto played Rayon, a fictional trans woman who befriended Woodroof. His decision to accept the part as a cis man was heavily criticised by the LGBT+ community.
After the row, in 2016, he was asked in a GQ interview whether he thought Hollywood would accept a gay leading man.
While he said that he was hopeful, he confessed: “I definitely don’t think a gay leading man would have the same opportunities as a straight leading man.
“I don’t think that. Not for a single second. I don’t know if that’s offensive or not, but that’s my thought right now.”
Leto added: “It shouldn’t be that way. I don’t think you’ll have as many opportunities. And I think you could say the same for minorities. What a word, ‘minority’. Have we taken that word off the list yet? ‘Cause it should be. Anyway, no, I think that this is still a very conservative business.”
