House of Gucci is one of those films I liked enough to recommend but it had some issues. I thought Lady Gaga was fantastic while most of her co-stars performed admirably in their roles. The one performance I just didn’t get was Jared Leto’s portrayal of Paolo Gucci. Buried in prosthetics, I thought Leto was performing in an entirely different film and he was absurdly over the top. That being said, awards season has disagreed with me. Leto just received a SAG Nomination for Best Supporting Actor for his performance and he also received a Critics Choice nomination for his role and some think an Oscar nomination could also be in the card. While it didn’t work for me, it’s working for everyone else but even Leto himself thought the role could’ve ended up being a total failure.
Leto was speaking with “Deadline” about his upcoming projects and he opened up about how the possibility of “total failure” is an “exciting” aspect when he considers accepting roles. Despite those convictions, he does acknowledge that he thought taking on the role in House of Gucci, as he put it, “would either be the worst thing I ever did, or potentially…one of the best.” Check out his full quote below!
“I’m interested in taking big swings and I want to be in that place where absolute total failure is knocking on the door. That’s an exciting place to be and I hope to continue to remind myself to be as brave and as bold as I can be…I thought for sure that this would either be the worst thing I ever did, or potentially creatively for me as an artist, one of the best. There wasn’t any room for anything in the middle and I’m just struck by gratitude because I know that I’m fortunate to be an actor that people can call on to do these kinds of things.”
Leto further explains that he told director Ridley Scott that he intended to “go off the deep end” with the character before even getting Scott’s permission to do so. Leto said he related to Paolo, especially his desire to “make something special out of his life.” In the end, he’s happy that Scott gave all of the actors freedom to explore and he closed off his thoughts by saying, “Ridley gave us the time and faith. It was a beautiful thing that he gave us.”
House of Gucci is based on the 2001 book “The House of Gucci: A Sensational Story of Murder, Madness, Glamour, and Greed” by Sara Gay Forden. Lady Gaga plays Patrizia Reggiani, who was tried and convicted of orchestrating the assassination of her ex-husband and former head of the Gucci fashion house Maurizio Gucci, portrayed by Adam Driver. The movie is set in 1995 and depicts the events and aftermath of the murder. Rounding out an already stellar cast is Jack Huston, Reeve Carney, and Salma Hayek. House of Gucci has become the best older-skewing film release of the pandemic at the box office, grossing $50.2 million domestically to date and $169.7 million worldwide. House of Gucci is currently 63% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes which shows a more mixed response from critics but it has emerged as an awards season contender and even snagged a surprise SAG Nomination for its ensemble cast.
What are YOUR thoughts on Jared Leto’s performance in House of Gucci?