Jared Leto appears in the March issue of Flaunt magazine. He really looks like an ombre, hipster version of Scarface‘s Tony Montana in the above photo, right? I’m not feeling this shoot at all, and it gets even weirder, but I should just be happy this isn’t an Uncle Terry production.

Jared’s promoting his role in Dallas Buyers Club as much as he is campaigning for that Best Supporting Actor Oscar (which is, by all accounts, probably a done deal for him). Jared has done well for himself during this massive press tour that is almost over. Less than a week! He started off all wide-eyed and innocent about his prospects as a nominee. Jared rapidly moved on to shading actors who complain about the process. Then Jared responded in a classy way to a heckler, which won over many hearts that were not already devoted to Jordan Catalano’s battle in life.

Jared’s not watching his image all too well lately despite his charming ways with the media. He’s posing for gross Terry Richardson shoots and probably hooking up with Miley Cyrus. Plus — and I hate to sound vain — Jared could use a little sprucing up in the grooming department. At this point, I am ready to take a pair of scissors to that hair. If he wears a ponytail to the Oscars, I will groan in displeasure. This interview is bizarre. Jared goes off on a tangent about Google Earth. He’s thought a lot about the topic. Let’s do this:

His London hotel room: “This is where my place is on the world. F—. Do you have the key?”

He’s a little bit spacey: “The way that we think about our position in the world, in relationship to the planet, has changed because of the way we travel from place to place. We now look down on the planet rather than looking across. I met with the creator of Google Earth and he asked me, ‘What have you learned from using Google Earth?’ And, you know, I gave him some bullsh-t answer. But, actually, the thing that I learned is that we all see the planet differently now. We look down on ourselves. We used to look across the horizon. Now, we look down. We all have a map in our mind of where we may be and the ability to access that. Your perspective changes because of location-based applications. Your perspective has now become, ‘This is where my place is on the world.’ Which is interesting. It’s from the top looking down. Which is kind of strange and interesting, that our perspective is from above. From space.”

On taking risks in film: “I’ve made a lot of films that have fallen short. Films where we had the right intentions. Independent art house films that we all had high hopes for, but fell short. Gaining sixty-seven pounds for Chapter 27. Yeah, I think I’m willing to risk everything. I don’t say that with any conceits. I say that as a fact. I don’t see there being reward in another way. At least any worthy one. So when they connect with people and the films resonate, or the performance resonates–it’s a really wonderful thing to celebrate that.”

He loves his Rayon character: “For me, I made it very clear early on that I saw Rayon as a man who wanted to live his life as a woman, not someone who enjoyed putting on women’s clothing. If they wanted that kind of performance–or anything glam, or anything drag queen-y–I wasn’t the person for the part. She’s an incredible, empathetic, beautiful dreamer. A heart the size of an ocean. She’s an absolutely one-of-a-kind creature. So, a lot of love and support for her as well. I feel like she became a person, a real person. Especially because I was so deep inside of her. I really feel like I got to know this person. It became like a living, breathing life. It was a once-in-a-lifetime role.”

On the Oscar buzz: “This is a crazy time in my life, but it’s a focused time. It’s not like it’s out of control. You only get to do this once and in this case once may be the only time you get to do it. It’s a funny way to say it, but it’s kind of true. I’m acutely aware of that and very respectful of the path I’m walking down. I’m glad that this happened to me now and not when I first started. It’s a really good thing.”

[From Flaunt]

Jared is in the home stretch. I wonder if he has any big plans to celebrate his win. Yeah, he’s probably going to win, but this shoot won’t help his chances. What’s going on in this picture — is he pretending to defend himself against an intruder? Maybe Uncle Terry showed up on the set, and Jared was like, “Dude, you are killing my chances for this Oscar.”

Photos courtesy of Flaunt