Jared Leto Says Performing With 30 Seconds to Mars Is Tougher Than Anything He's Done

Photo credit: Paras Griffin - Getty Images
Photo credit: Paras Griffin - Getty Images

If you ever caught Jared Leto performing with Thirty Seconds To Mars, you weren't only watching a live performance; you were watching an extreme sport. In our April cover story, the WeCrashed actor explained why performing with his band is more physically demanding than rock climbing or anything he's ever done in his life.

"It's hard to explain because you're up there having a good time, but it's full-on for a couple of hours," he tells Men's Health. "You're singing and running around, you have so much adrenaline, and you're performing at your limit. Your heart is pounding outta your chest, you're dripping sweat, and you're exhilarated, but you're working your body in a really intense way."

Before you roll your eyes in disbelief, Leto's assertion about physical activity doesn't come from a place of ignorance. The 50-year-old actor has grown into a serious multi-pitch climber since filming his docuseries Great Wide Open about adventurers who explore America's National Parks in 2015. Leto's climbing in gargantuan parks like Red Rock Canyon, Yosemite, and Joshua Tree when he's not performing across the country or dropping shirtless birthday thirst traps. He's been tossed off a cliff by daredevil rock climber Tommy Caldwell and says he almost fell 600 feet to his death climbing Red Rock with professional adventure rock climb Alex Honnold.

Although the Thirty Seconds To Mars lead singer, who also plays bass, guitar, and keyboards for the band, has probably never climbed anything taller than a barricade while performing, he still believes he pushes his body to its limits like the best athletes.

"I'd put it somewhere between amateur bowling and . . . Usain Bolt," he says.

Read the full cover story here.

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