Jared Leto has hit back at criticism he received for his performance in Ridley Scott's crime drama House Of Gucci.
Scott's take on the ultimately fatal relationship between the notorious Patrizia Reggiani and fashion mogul Maurizio Gucci certainly got critics talking.
Reactions to the widely-anticipated flick were mixed, though, with some dubbing it 'mesmerising' and others describing it as a 'mess'. The Gucci heirs even weighed in, blasting the 'far-from-accurate' film as 'an insult to the legacy on which the brand is built' and threatening legal action.
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The film, which chronicles the events after Reggiano – dubbed the Black Widow – marries into the Gucci family, features a star-studded cast, including Lady Gaga, Adam Driver and Jared Leto.
Leto portrays aspiring designer Paolo Gucci in the flick, but his performance, much like the film in general, ended up dividing opinions.
Many enjoyed his over-the-top take on Paolo, although others criticised his caricature-esque 'Super Mario' Italian accent. Fellow designer Tom Ford even hit out at the portrayal following the film's release, saying that while 'Paolo, whom I met on several occasions, was indeed eccentric and did some wacky things', he wasn't like 'the crazed and seemingly mentally challenged character of Leto’s performance'.
Explaining that he understood the mixed reaction to his character, Leto recently told Screen, '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.'
The star added that he 'had a blast playing it' and 'dug in as deep as [he] could'.
He continued, 'It's also that thing of if you're not p*ssing 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.'
Director Scott was also forced to speak out in defence of the film following the criticism from the Gucci heirs, telling Total Film, 'I tried to be as respectful as possible by being as factual as possible, and as factual as we can possibly imagine.
'Time and space sometimes has to jump because of the nature of the length of the film. But the people that were writing from the family to us at the onset were alarmingly insulting, saying that Al Pacino did not represent physically Aldo Gucci in any shape or form. And yet, frankly, how could they be better represented than by Al Pacino? Excuse me! You probably have the best actors in the world, you should be so f**king lucky,' he added.
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