Oh Jared Leto, what are you doing this time? According to Jeff Bridges, his new Tron: Ares co-star went “full method” and asked his co-stars to call him by his character’s name during production. Bridges makes his return to the franchise for its third installment, and is joined by a brand-new cast, including Greta Lee, Sarah Desjardins, Evan Peters, Cameron Monaghan, Jodie Turner-Smith, and Gillian Anderson, alongside the aforementioned Jared Leto. The Suicide Squad star is known for his “method” antics, which reportedly help him get into character — in David Ayer’s panned DC movie, Leto reportedly sent dead animals and used condoms to his cast mates (not your typical wrap gift).
Jeff Bridges appeared on SiriusXM’s Literally! With Rob Lowe and discussed working with Jared Leto (or should we call him Ares?) on the upcoming Tron sequel. The veteran actor shared that Leto asked the cast to refer to him by his character’s name during the production of Ares. Bridges recalled his first days on set, and his initial impressions of working with Leto.
“There was an interesting vibe on this. I said, ‘How’s Jared? How’s he working?’ ‘He’s all right. You know, we call him Ares, you know, so he goes by his name,’ and I said, ‘Oh, that’s interesting.'”
Bridges then jumped to his first actual interaction with Jared Leto on set of Tron: Ares. The actor was respectful of Leto’s wishes, respecting his acting method. While his Suicide Squad castmates might tell a different story, Jeff Bridges had nothing but kind things to say about Jared Leto from the film’s production, saying:
“His name was Ares in the show, and I ended up going, ‘Hey Air, what’s happening man?’ And I say, ‘Is it OK if I call you Air?’ And he says, ‘Yeah, sure you can.’ Then we got loose, and it was just wonderful. I mean, we jammed, you know?”
Jared Leto Plays a Rockstar in Tron: Ares
Unlike the first two Tron movies, which saw people get sucked into the titular video game, Tron: Ares is flipping the script. In the new film, Ares, an advanced computer program, escapes the game and becomes the first A.I. to interact with humans. As well as being an artificial intelligence program, Ares is also a “big rockstar” according to Jeff Bridges. Jared Leto was able to channel his experience as the frontman of Thirty Seconds to Mars into his Tron performance.
Bridges didn’t want to give too much away about the secretive Tron project. However, he did reveal that the movie may have some musical components to it (although one wouldn’t expect a choreographed dance routine on light cycles, as cool as that would be). Bridges said:
“[Leto’s a] big rockstar, man. I won’t tell you ’cause we get into some music stuff in the show, and it’s quite good. He’s wonderful in the part though, and I’m so happy to be a part [of it].”
Tron: Ares
is scheduled to release on October 10, 2025.