From high notes to Hefner! Award-winning actor and singer Jared Leto is ready to slip into silk pajamas and channel his inner playboy. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Leto is set to take on the role of the late legendary Hugh Hefner in a currently untitled upcoming biopic directed by Brett Ratner of RatPac Entertainment. Ratner told The Hollywood Reporter, “When he heard I got the rights to Hef’s story, he told me, ‘I want to play him. I want to understand him.’”
Leto, who snagged the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor in 2014 for his role as an HIV-positive transgender woman in Dallas Buyers Club, is known to put his entirety into any role he takes. Ratner feels confident about this decision to cast Leto. “I really believe Jared can do it. He’s one of the great actors of today.”
Ratner shared that he had invited Leto to the Playboy Mansion back in April for the premiere of Amazon’s American Playboy: The Hugh Hefner Story, and hoped to introduce him to the 91-year-old mogul he’ll be portraying on the big screen. However, Hefner was ill and not up to greeting guests at the time.
Hefner, who passed away on September 27 at age 91, left no shortage of legacy for Leto to work off of. “There’s enough footage on Hef out there that Jared will be able to get as much information as he wants,” Ratner said.
Leto, 45, is currently making new music with Thirty Seconds to Mars and will next hit the big screen in Blade Runner 2049, which hits theaters on Friday, October 6.