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Oscar Winner and Joker Jared Leto Climbs with Top Climbers

Jared Leto plays the Joker in the upcoming film Suicide Squad. In 2013, he won an Oscar for his role as a transgender woman in Dallas Buyer’s Club. The role also earned him a Golden Globe and Screen Actor’s Guide Award. Leto is the lead singer in Thirty Seconds to Mars, a band he started with his brother in 1998. Most of the climbers in the world had no idea who Leto was until last year.

A post interview snuggle with the legendary @alexhonnold #GreatWideOpen

A photo posted by JARED LETO (@jaredleto) on

It all started in the spring of 2015, when Leto began climbing with Sasha DiGiulian. Their public appearances off the rock led to rumors they were dating in Hollywood tabloids. The takeaways are that Leto was getting a crash course in climbing from one of America’s best.

@jaredleto sent the climb! @vailmtn #GoPro @mountaingamesvail @gopro #proudcoach

A photo posted by Sasha DiGiulian (@sashadigiulian) on

Leto was also keeping busy climbing with Tommy Caldwell, Renan Ozturk and Alex Honnold. Between shoots for Suicide Squad, Leto would head out to whatever crag was closest. In June of 2015, he went to Yosemite with Caldwell and learned how to jumar big walls and rappel exposed descents. With Ozturk and Honnold, Leto went to Matthes Crest for some alpine granite climbing.

This spring, Leto joined up with Ozturk and Taylor Freesolo Rees for his first trad lead. The three went to none other than Joshua Tree and the route might have been White Lighting 5.7, but no one confirmed. A few weeks ago, Leto teamed up with Honnold and Jimmy Chin for an ascent of the East Buttress of El Cap, a fun nine-pitch 5.10b. He then teamed up with Kevin Jorgeson for a send of Serenity Crack 5.10d to Sons of Yesterday 5.10a/b.

East buttress of El Cap – Yosemite 2016 ? @jimmy_chin ? @alexhonnold

A photo posted by JARED LETO (@jaredleto) on

This week, Leto has joined Chris Sharma in Spain for laps up big classics. After climbing a needle near Monserrat, Leto and Sharma met with Miquel Riera for some deep water soloing in Mallorca. It’s clear Leto is here to stay and while he’s not pushing standards or sending new routes, yet, he is busy climbing fun routes with some of the world’s best climbers. Not to mention, he might be the first Oscar winner to climb the East Buttress of El Cap.

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