Jared Leto

Leto later co-starred with Christina Ricci in The Last of the High Kings and appeared in Switchback. Read Less

He plays a school journalist and love interest of Alicia Witt's character. Together, they go up against a crazed killer that is recreating urban legend massacres. The film was a massive success commercially, though critics mostly disliked the film. Leto was then pleased to get a role in the World War II film The Thin Red Line, as part of a cast including Sean Penn, Nick Nolte and Adrien Brody. The film was nominated for seven Academy Awards and was a moderate success at the box office. Read Less

Playing Fernandez, he co-starred with Salma Hayek who played the role Martha. The film received mixed responses but Leto's performance was praised by many critics who wrote "it's worth seeing for Leto's performance alone." Read Less

Despite their growing momentum, 30 Seconds to Mars soon found themselves at war with their label, Virgin Records. The band had attempted to sign with a new label after the A Beautiful Lie Tour, prompting Virgin to file a lawsuit for $30 million, claiming that the band had failed to produce three of the five records they were obligated to deliver under their 1999 contract with the now-defunct Immortal Records. Leto responded to some of the claims in the suit stating, "under California law, where we live and signed our deal, one cannot be bound to a contract for more than seven years." 30 Seconds to Mars had been contracted for nine years, so the band decided to exercise their "legal right to terminate our old, out-of-date contract, which, according to the law is null and void."

After nearly a year of the lawsuit battle, the band announced on April 28, 2009, that the case had been settled. The suit was resolved following a defence based on a contract case involving actress Olivia de Havilland decades before. Leto explained, "The California Appeals Court ruled that no service contract in California is valid after seven years, and it became known as the De Havilland Law after she used it to get out of her contract with Warner Bros. " 30 Seconds to Mars then decided to re-sign with EMI (the parent label of Virgin). Leto said the band had "resolved our differences with EMI" and the decision had been made because of "the willingness and enthusiasm by EMI to address our major concerns and issues, (and) the opportunity to return to work with a team so committed and passionate about 30 Seconds to Mars". Read Less