Catching Up with Jared Leto

Jared Leto is on the cover of this month's Rolling Stone Magazine. Here are some highlights from his interview:

On his eating habits:

"I'm actually a cheagan, a cheating vegan. I don't eat meat ever. But if someone's mom made a cookie and handed it to me, I'd probably take a bite, or if I'm in Alaska and there's wild salmon out of the river, I'd probably eat it...I usually don't bring water. I'm a bit like a lizard." 

On a recent genetic test:

"I have a lot of Neanderthal in me. Maybe that's why I'm so good at climbing." 

On being essentially straight-edge:

"There's all kinds of ways to change your state of mind or to get out of yourself."

With one exception:

"No, only at Burning Man. Only if I'm having an orgy at Burning Man will I take [a psychedelic]."

On balancing his music and acting careers:

"There were so many people that didn't understand. There were people in this town who thought it was insane. There were films that I decided not to do because I had tiny little tours, and people would just lose their minds. And some of them turned into the biggest movies ever made." 

On the Joker:

"If the Joker did this interview, he'd definitely castrate you and make you eat your own testicles. Just for fun. That's if he liked you...Heath did an impeccable, perfect performance as the Joker. It's one of the best performances ever in cinema. I had met Heath before. I didn't know him well, but he was a beautiful person...I think had it only been portrayed by Heath and it was never a comic book, maybe I would have felt that would be inappropriate. But I thought that given the history, it was OK. The good thing about other people having done this is that you know what direction not to head in...The Joker is incredibly comfortable with acts of violence. I was watching real violence, consuming that. There's a lot you can learn from seeing it. Not every act of violence is committed with frenzy, either. I remember learning that. People can be calm. They've made their choice and go and do something, and it's not in a frenzy. It's methodical and sometimes even hypnotic and deliberate." 

Read the full interview at Rolling Stone.