Ridley Scott’s biographical drama House of Gucci has garnered much appreciation for the performances of Lady Gaga as Patricia Reggiani and Adam Driver as Maurizio Gucci, presenting the chaotic history of the renowned fashion brand. However, when it comes to Jared Leto’s businessman and designer Paolo Gucci, there have been many criticisms aimed at his ridiculous portrayal of the character. And now, Leto has finally broken his silence and responded to the negative reviews about his performance in the film.
In the film, Jared Leto portrays as an extremely talentless member of the family who was never taken seriously by anyone. His character, who briefly got the chance to helm the Gucci fashion house, takes another hit when Gaga’s Patrizia tricks Paolo into betraying his father Aldo (Al Pacino) by getting him arrested for tax invasion in exchange for fulfilling his life-long dream of designing his own line of clothing. Soon, Patrizia double-crosses the black sheep of the family, leaving him to live the rest of his days in poverty.
Some critics have lauded Jared Leto’s portrayal of Paolo Gucci, praising the comedic spin he put on the character but not everyone was impressed by his performance and even found it “parodic.” According to the actor (in an interview with Screendaily), the reviews never held any sway over him as he tried his “very best” to embody the character and “had a blast playing it.”
“I can imagine [the reaction] because it’s a big swing. I don’t look at reviews, I don’t look at critics or read comments, but I tried my very best. Paolo is the best I can do. If you don’t like the work, that’s okay. I had a blast playing it, I dug in as deep as I could,”
Leto also addressed his broader leanings towards the transgressive.
“It’s also that thing of if you’re not pissing people off then you’re doing something wrong. As an actor, if you want to put a dent in things you got to break things a bit, and not everyone’s going to understand that. So if that’s happening, then great,”
This is not the first time when Jared Leto’s portrayal of a character has left viewers divided in their opinion- he is known for taking method acting to extreme limits, whether it was as Joker in David Iyer’s Suicide Squad or the 2007 film, Chapter 27, for which the actor gained so much weight that he ended up in a wheelchair!