Here’s your daily dose of fanning the flames: Jared Leto has passed on the lead role in BRILLIANCE, lending creedence to rumors that he is a candidate for the title role in Scott Derrickson‘s DOCTOR STRANGE. Leto won the Oscar earlier this year for DALLAS BUYERS CLUB which was also his first film in half a decade. Since the win, Leto’s name has been bandied about like fellow winner Matthew McConaughey as the next star for almost every project out there.
According to NikkiFinke.com, Leto met with BRILLIANCE director Julius Onah before passing on the role. Will Smith similarly dropped out of the project to tackle a movie about concussions and the NFL. BRILLIANCE wads slated to film this year and already has cast Noomi Rapace. With DOCTOR STRANGE on the slate for Marvel in 2016 and likely filming in the coming year, if Leto were to take the role he would need to have his calendar empty.
The question remains whether or not Leto even wants to be locked into a major Marvel contract. To date, most of Marvel’s acting choices have been actors trying to rehab their careers or young up-and-comers trying to make a splash in the industry. Leto currently is neither, but he would be an intriguing choice for DOCTOR STRANGE, assuming you don’t prefer Tom Hardy or Benedict Cumberbatch, the other rumored shortlist names.
It could also be that BRILLIANCE was not the right fit for the actor. With everyone expecting major announcements from Marvel at this July’s San Diego Comic Con, we will have to speculate and wait.
DOCTOR STRANGE is slated to open in 2016.