Editing Jared Leto (section)

== Early life ==
<!-- NEED SOURCE: Jared Joseph Leto was born on December 26, 1971, in [[Bossier City, Louisiana]], to Constance A. "Connie" Leto (née Metrejon), who was a teenager at the time of his birth.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VCtch3DzLRs |title=Jared Leto winning Best Supporting Actor - 86th Oscars (2014)}}</ref><ref name="intvpol1">{{cite web|url=http://muzyka.interia.pl/alternatywa/news/thirty-seconds-to-mars-straceniec-jared-leto-fragment,1965494,45 |title=Thirty Seconds To Mars: Straceniec Jared Leto (fragment biografii) |first=Adam |last=Kisch |publisher=[[Interia.pl]] |language=pl |date=November 14, 2013 |access-date=December 15, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131117060524/http://muzyka.interia.pl/alternatywa/news/thirty-seconds-to-mars-straceniec-jared-leto-fragment%2C1965494%2C45 |archive-date=November 17, 2013 }}</ref><ref name=IrishIndependent>{{cite news|url=http://www.independent.ie/entertainment/the-big-interview-30-seconds-to-mars-frontman-jared-leto-26347148.html|title=The Big Interview: 30 Seconds to Mars frontman Jared Leto|first=John|last=Meagher|date=January 25, 2008|work=[[Irish Independent]]|access-date=June 14, 2011}}</ref>, of [[Cajun]] ancestry{{sfn|Higgins|2013|p=10}}, and to Anthony L. "Tony" Bryant.{{cn}} [[Shannon Leto]], his older brother, was also born from this marriage. His parents divorced when he was a child, leading Leto's family to move frequently to different cities around the country, from [[Louisiana]] to [[Wyoming]] to [[Virginia]].<ref name="Forrest">{{cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/3575916/Not-just-a-pretty-face.html|title=Not just a pretty face|last=Forrest|first=Emma|date=April 13, 2002|work=[[The Daily Telegraph|The Telegraph]]|access-date=March 4, 2013}}</ref> "My mom's father was in the Air Force," Leto has explained, "so moving around a lot was a normal way of life." Even so, Leto's family was [[Poverty in the United States | poverty-stricken]] and found themselves occasionally living in a truck or off of food-stamps.<ref name="tribune">{{cite web|title=Jared Leto|url=http://www.tribute.ca/people/jared-leto/2203/|work=[[Tribute (magazine)|Tribute]]|access-date=January 24, 2014}}</ref>

"Leto" is the surname of his stepfather, [[oculist | opthalmist]] Dr. Carl J. Leto M.D.<ref>{{cite web|title=Dr. Carl J Leto, MD|url=https://www.doctor.com/Dr-Carl-Leto|website=Doctor.com|access-date=October 19, 2017}}</ref>, who provided Leto's family with financial stability; however, his mother and stepfather ended up divorcing too. Despite this, Jared credits his mother and stepfather for catering his talents and encouraging creativity within his family. Leto's family adapted the surname as their own, even after the divorce. Since then, Leto has been estranged from his stepfather.{{cn}}  While Leto's father Anthony Bryant remarried as well, he died by suicide shortly after.{{sfn|Higgins|2013|p=11}} Leto was eight at the time of his father's death. Bryant left a son<ref name="intvpol1"/>, Leto's paternal half-brother Matthias, from his second marriage. Leto's family then settled in [[Haiti]]<ref>{{cite web|title=Jared Leto|url=http://thestir.cafemom.com/home_garden/169186/jared_letos_dirt_poor_home|website=Thestir.cafemom.com|access-date=October 19, 2017}}</ref> for a brief period while his mother volunteered at a rescue facility. Finally moving back to the [[United States of America | states]], Leto's family moved into the home of his maternal grandparents, Ruby Mae (Russell) and William Lee "Willie" Metrejon.<ref name="intvpol1"/> -->
[[File:Leto brothers 2009 (cropped).jpg|thumb|left|Leto (left) with his brother [[Shannon Leto|Shannon]] in 2009]]

Leto was born on December 26, 1971, in [[Bossier City, Louisiana]], to Constance Leto (née Metrejon).<ref name="intvpol1">{{cite web|url=http://muzyka.interia.pl/alternatywa/news/thirty-seconds-to-mars-straceniec-jared-leto-fragment,1965494,45 |title=Thirty Seconds To Mars: Straceniec Jared Leto (fragment biografii) |first=Adam |last=Kisch |publisher=[[Interia.pl]] |language=pl |date=November 14, 2013 |access-date=December 15, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131117060524/http://muzyka.interia.pl/alternatywa/news/thirty-seconds-to-mars-straceniec-jared-leto-fragment%2C1965494%2C45 |archive-date=November 17, 2013 }}</ref><ref name=IrishIndependent>{{cite news|url=http://www.independent.ie/entertainment/the-big-interview-30-seconds-to-mars-frontman-jared-leto-26347148.html|title=The Big Interview: 30 Seconds to Mars frontman Jared Leto|first=John|last=Meagher|date=January 25, 2008|work=[[Irish Independent]]|access-date=June 14, 2011}}</ref> His mother has [[Cajun]] ancestry.{{sfn|Higgins|2013|p=10}} Leto is his stepfather's surname. His parents divorced when he was a child, and he and his older brother, [[Shannon Leto|Shannon]], lived with their mother and their maternal grandparents, Ruby (Russell) and William Lee Metrejon.<ref name="intvpol1"/> After he remarried, his father died by suicide when Jared was eight.{{sfn|Higgins|2013|p=11}} Leto moved frequently with his family from Louisiana to different cities around the country.<ref name="Forrest">{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/3575916/Not-just-a-pretty-face.html|title=Not just a pretty face|last=Forrest|first=Emma|date=April 13, 2002|work=[[The Daily Telegraph|The Telegraph]]|access-date=March 4, 2013}}</ref> "My mom's father was in the Air Force," Leto has explained, "so moving around a lot was a normal way of life."<ref name="tribune">{{cite web|title=Jared Leto|url=http://www.tribute.ca/people/jared-leto/2203/|work=[[Tribute (magazine)|Tribute]]|access-date=January 24, 2014}}</ref> Leto has two younger half-brothers from his father's second marriage.<ref name="intvpol1"/>

Constance joined the [[Hippie|hippie movement]] and encouraged her sons to get involved in the arts.{{sfn|Higgins|2013|p=10}} Leto said he "was raised around a lot of artists, musicians, photographers, painters and people that were in theater," adding that "Just having the art communal hippie experience as a child, there wasn't a clear line that was drawn. We celebrated creative experience and creative expression. We didn't try and curtail it and stunt any of that kind of growth."<ref>{{cite web|title=A Wandering Soul |url=http://www.focusfeatures.com/splashpage/jared_leto |publisher=[[Focus Features]] |page=2 |access-date=January 24, 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140202095816/http://www.focusfeatures.com/splashpage/jared_leto |archive-date=February 2, 2014 }}</ref> Leto started playing music with his brother at an early age; his first musical instrument was a broken-down piano.{{sfn|Evans|2011|p=30}}

After dropping out briefly in the 10th grade, Leto decided to return and focus on his education at the private [[Emerson Preparatory School]] in Washington, D.C.<ref name="start">{{cite web|title=Jared Leto|url=http://www.start4you.ru/content/themost/dzhared_leto_laquoja_naslazhdajus_processom_rabotyraquo.html|work=Education and Career|access-date=January 24, 2014|language=ru|date=April 8, 2011|archive-date=October 4, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201004195752/https://start4you.ru/content/themost/dzhared_leto_laquoja_naslazhdajus_processom_rabotyraquo.html/|url-status=dead}}</ref> He was interested in large-scale visual art and enrolled at the [[University of the Arts (Philadelphia)|University of the Arts]] in Philadelphia.<ref name="Forrest"/><ref name="Marx">{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/movies/person/200349/Jared-Leto/biography|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140112080948/http://www.nytimes.com/movies/person/200349/Jared-Leto/biography|url-status=dead|archive-date=January 12, 2014|title=Jared Leto|first=Rebecca Flint|last=Marx|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=2014|access-date=March 4, 2013}}</ref> After developing an interest in filmmaking, he transferred to the [[School of Visual Arts]] in New York City.<ref name="Forrest"/> While he was a student there, he wrote and starred in his own short film, ''Crying Joy''.<ref name="Marx"/> He also attended the [[Corcoran School of the Arts and Design]], now a part of [[George Washington University]].<ref>[https://corcoran.gwu.edu/notable-alumni GW Corcoran – Notable Alumni]</ref>