[Jared Leto] stars in “Dallas Buyers Club” as Rayon, a heartbreakingly vulnerable but business-savvy transgender AIDS victim.
“As soon as I got out of the van [the first day of shooting], I had my high heels on, and I was in it,” says Leto. “I was in character every day I shot.
“It’s not a new thing [this kind of immersion], but it was essential. There was too much to lose if I didn’t do it.”
Leto even stepped out in costume to a Whole Foods near New Orleans, where much of the film was shot.
“I got some … distinct looks,” he says. “One look was, ‘What is that?’ Another was, ‘I don’t know what that is, but I don’t like it.’ But that condemnation and judgment I got — that was important to the role.”