“The Little Things” is a throwback to nineties serial killer movies like “Se7en” and “The Silence of the Lambs,” the kind of morally complicated adult entertainment that Hollywood no longer makes. Jared Leto, who plays the ghostly villain of the film, opposite detectives Denzel Washington and Rami Malek, spoke to IndieWire about why this is the case.
“It comes down to a financial decision by the studios,” Leto said. ‘They think they can make just that much more money with the bigger occasional movies. They found that if they could do something episodic for television, people would still enjoy such stories. I’m not saying they should stop making movies like ‘The Little Things’, but I do think you’re talking about [the HBO show] ‘The Undoing’, people like to spend more time with those characters. And there is less stigma going back and forth from television to film. ”
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“The Little Things” is one of the 17 Warner Bros. shows. 2021 titles appearing day and date on HBO Max and in available theaters. It exists in the strange gray area of the visual storytelling from the COVID era in which films intended for massive theater bows can now be enjoyed with TV episodes from home.
In the film of writer-director John Lee Hancock, Leto, is Albert Sparma, a creepy introvert who may or may not be a murderer of women, and he is stalked by Washington and Malek who play two broken-down cops with their own demons. . This is the kind of ambitious crime story you would see on TV in the 21st century.
‘Who would have thought five or ten years ago, we would have thought people just want to look at shorter forms. The opposite is true. “People do enjoy a TikTok, but they also enjoy being connected and committed for eight to ten episodes,” said Leto. But he also hopes that the strike of theaters through the pandemic will bring the film increase to life.
‘Maybe we’ll see post-COVID that people have a desire to watch different kinds of movies, but my point [isn’t] that they should all just be comic books, but the studios look at the size of the budgets and what forces people to get into the theater and what their time and energy are worth, and it probably makes more sense to spend $ 200 million and make a billion as it is to spend $ 30 million and earn $ 80 [million]. I’m not saying this is my business plan. It’s just maybe their business plan, ”he said.
Leto has a lot of experience with big-budget films and offers his demented turn to the Joker for DC in 2016’s “Suicide Squad” – which he briefly portrays in the upcoming Snyder Cut of “Justice League” on HBO Max – and stars in the upcoming “Morbius” for Marvel. The film, Sony Pictures’ third turn in the MCU, recently bumped into January 2022 when a March opening became impossible.
Until then, “The Little Things” should satisfy Leto fans with a clear, well, very Leto performance. His Sparma has long, smooth and tight hair, dead eyes, an unshakable forehead, a voice that barely whispers above a library, and a way of sauning that looks almost like levitation. He also taunts his opponents with a sick sense of humor. Or, as Leto suggests, a wonderful guy: ‘I found him to be quite charming and had a wild, fun sense of humor,’ he said.
“I’m attracted by the opportunity to do something transformative, not just psychologically or emotionally, but also a physical one,” said Leto, who was rediscovered in many of his roles, including his Oscar-winning turn as’ a trans woman with HIV for “Dallas Buyers Club.” Let’s not forget his infamous corn for David Fincher’s 2002 Panic Room, or his haunting role as an elaborate junkie in Darren Aronofsky’s “Requiem for a Dream.” (He will again collaborate with Aronofsky on the Blumhouse project “Adrift.”)
For ‘The Little Things’, he said,’ I had a different color eyes, a different nose, different teeth, different prosthetics, there was a walk and a conversation. The voice was something that was very important. He is a very hypnotic person in a strange way. He is comfortable in his skin, but other people feel uncomfortable around him. He does not fit so neatly into society. He lives in the darker shadows. ”
His “Morbius” character was also physically demanding, as the superhero he plays, Michael Morbius, has a rare blood disease that eventually causes vampirism. ‘My character has a rare disease that only 900 people in the world have, and I have tried to educate myself as best I can. I’m not playing someone who’s very sick and dying, but someone who’s very healthy and strong, and paints something brilliant. I have these three different degrees. There was a great physical commitment to the role. ”
Leto said such performances could not be easily washed away at the end of the day.
“You have weeks or months where you read FBI transcripts, you look at all kinds of footage and consume a lot of material,” he said. If you have a physical commitment, such as a walk, a conversation or a diet, and if you do it enough hours in the day, you will stay that way. I’ve played some intense characters, and it’s safe to say they’re always coming under my skin. ”
‘The Little Things’ airs on January 29 on HBO Max.
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