Granted, every actor aspires to such heights, but Jared Leto goes above and beyond in his portrayal of rotund fashionista Paolo Gucci in MGM’s Ridley Scott film House of Gucci, the one Gucci who, like Rodney Dangerfield, couldn’t seem to get recognition.
The character’s “clown prince” and Fredo temperament leaped off the page for Jared Leto, despite the actor having no notion of what the real person appeared.
However, after conducting an extensive study, Jared Leto was given three weeks to transform himself into a guy who resembled nothing like him. Not to forget Leto’s lengthy tresses. Paolo’s appearance was created by the actor on his own, with the help of prosthetic designer Göran Lundström and wigmaker AnnaCarin Lock. Neither Scott nor the rest of the actors were apparently aware of Leto’s appearance. When Jared Leto first came on set, the 360-degree outfit tricked even co-star Al Pacino (who plays his father Aldo), The Godfather actor was blown away.
Jared Leto is no newcomer to transformation, having shed 30 pounds for his portrayal as a narcotic transgender woman with AIDS in 2013’s Dallas Buyers Club, for which he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.
Pacino’s reaction alone “said a lot about the work and gave me a boost of confidence, it’s safe to say no one ever saw me out of character.”
Paolo and Gucci’s Business
As shown by Paolo Gucci’s obituary from 1995, he created 80 percent of the Gucci catalog’s goods. Gucci dismissed him twice in his lifetime, yet he went on to create his own label. Paolo had grand aspirations for Gucci, including lamps, sunglasses, furniture, sleepwear, bedding accessories, lingerie, and flatware designs. He left the family firm in 1980 and sold all of his remaining interests in the Gucci company for $45 million in 1987. This is mostly left out of the film, which is inspired by Sara Gay Forden’s book about Patrizia Reggiani’s (Lady Gaga) assassination of Maurizio Gucci, her ex-husband and fashion heir (Adam Driver). Paolo declared bankruptcy shortly before his death, owing $90 million in debt. As depicted in the film, the son was instrumental in providing sensitive information that implicated Aldo, resulting in his father’s incarceration in 1986. Paolo Gucci died of heart and renal disease at the age of 64, only months after his cousin Maurizio was killed.
“Paolo is an unsung hero in the Gucci story, he was unheard and unseen by those closest to him, his family,” explains Leto, “He was a force to be reckoned with and there’s still a lot of his work that’s still intact and celebrated.”
United Artists Releasing’s House of Gucci is the highest-earning drama during the epidemic, generating around $52 million domestically and $145 million internationally. Jared Leto’s next film is Sony/Morbius, Marvel‘s and he informs us that Tron 3 is in the works, with a script due shortly.
