Oscar Winner Jared Leto Talks New Marvel Movie ‘Morbius’
The ‘Dallas Buyer’s Club’ actor discusses his new movie, which is based on Marvel Comics’ “Living Vampire.”
Jared Leto as Dr. Michael Morbius in Columbia Pictures' 'Morbius.' Photo: Jay Maidment. Copyright: © 2022 CTMG, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Opening in theaters on April 1st is the new Marvel movie from Sony’s Spider-Man Universe entitled ‘Morbius,’which was directed by Daniel Espinosa (‘Safe House’).
The movie stars Jared Leto (‘House of Gucci’) as Dr. Michael Morbius, who suffers from a rare blood disease and experiments with a dangerous cure that afflicts him with a form of vampirism.
In addition to Leto, the cast also includes Matt Smith (‘Terminator Genisys’), Adria Arjona (‘Triple Frontier’), Jared Harris (‘Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows’), Tyrese Gibson (‘F9’), and Michael Keaton (‘Batman’) reprising his role as Adrian Toomes/Vulture from ‘Spider-Man: Homecoming.’
Moviefone recently had the pleasure of speaking with Jared Leto about his work on ‘Morbius.’
You can read the full interview with Jared Leto below, or watch a video of our interviews with Leto, Matt Smith, Adria Arjona and director Daniel Espinosa in the player above.
Moviefone: To begin with, how does it feel to know that you are the first actor to ever portray the character of Morbius in a live-action movie or television project?
Jared Leto: It's pretty exciting and quite an honor, I have to say, to get asked to put this character on the big screen for the very first time. It's harder and harder to find one of these classic characters that hasn't been portrayed before, so I jumped at the chance. I also love the fact that there are three transformations that happen in the film, so it's really kind of three characters in one.
MF: When you read the original source material, what was it about this character that made you want to make this film?
JL: What I really loved is the artwork. Really, it's interesting because these characters get interpreted and reinterpreted by different artists and writers over the years. From the seventies, I really loved how fantastic it was and detailed. I loved that kind of classic battle between good and evil. There's a Jekyll and Hyde element here, a man kind of fighting these primal instincts, and it was a lot of fun.
Jared Leto as Dr. Michael Morbius in Columbia Pictures' 'Morbius.' Photo by Jay Maidment. Copyright: © 2021 CTMG, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
MF: Finally, how challenging, both physically and mentally, was this role for you to play?
JL: It was challenging. I love an immersive experience, and I like to work in a really intense, deep way. I find it to be really rewarding and exciting. In this film, we start off with Dr. Michael Morbius when he's very sick, frail and fragile. I had a lot to learn there. I worked with people that have rare diseases. I worked with people that have challenges walking, and I was able to study and to learn so much from them. They were very generous with their time and energy.
In turn, I feel like it's my job to pay tribute to that by working as hard as I can. Certainly, when I was playing that sick, frail doctor, who's in search of this cure for this rare disease. I spent time on that set. I spent the days working on that and living in that space. It's exciting. You learn a lot when you do that.
‘Morbius’ opens in theaters on April 1st.
Jared Leto as Dr. Michael Morbius in Columbia Pictures' 'Morbius.' Photo: Jay Maidment. Copyright: © 2022 CTMG, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
