Jared Leto: We're just getting warmed up

We've just enquired as to whether or not his self-confessed 'vagabondish' childhood set him up for a life forever on the road.

His band, Thirty Seconds to Mars, hold the Guinness World Record for the longest-ever rock tour, playing 311 shows over two years, 60 countries and six continents to more than three million fans.

They also destroyed the festival circuit this summer and are now on yet another arena tour with new album LOVE LUST FAITH + DREAMS.

"This is nothing, we're just getting warmed up," he says, while en route to a gig in Munich.

"We did the longest tour on record that landed us in the Guinness Book of Records but we can't wait to get back out there again – this one is going to be the tour of a lifetime, it's a whole new adventure.

"We're so lucky. Our journey around the world continues and this will be our absolute biggest and boldest tour to date."

As well as being an alternative rock god, Jared, as if you need to be told, is also a bona fide Hollywood A-lister, starring in such stone-cold classics as American Psycho, Girl, Interrupted and Requiem for a Dream.

To the mainstream, he's best known for his roles in Panic Room and Fight Club, where he gets the beating to end all beatings because Ed Norton famously 'felt like destroying something beautiful'.

He's such a megastar, the mere mention of his name sent a tremor of excitement through Star headquarters when his PR casually called up and asked: "Do you want to interview Jared Leto in half hour?"

Errr, go on then. You've twisted our arm.

However, due to his band's success, it's been almost five years since he's last been on the silver screen – until now.

Jared plays Rayon, a transsexual with AIDS, and his magnetic performance is already generating Oscar buzz. His physical transformation to become the character was also remarkable, losing 30 pounds in total and going 100 per cent Method, being in character and drag 24 hours a day.

Naively, Weekend think notoriously difficult-to-interview Jared will be up for talking about it, but he's having none of it.

"Look, it's nice to be able to do different things but at the moment I just think it's great that I have the opportunity to be in Europe touring LOVE LUST FAITH + DREAMS.

"I mean, right now, I'm in rainy dark Munich about to go on stage in front of 15,000 mad Germans. How wonderful is that?"

The band – also featuring Jared's brother Shannon on drums and Tomo Mili?evi? on lead guitar – will be bringing the tour to Birmingham's NIA on Friday. And the expectations are high.

"The UK is our second home and we're so so excited to come there and perform," says Leto, now 41 (Seriously? It seems like only five minutes ago he was melting every teenage girl's heart starring alongside Claire Danes in angst-ridden cult series My So-Called Life).

"Trust me, for all of you coming to the Birmingham gig, it's going to be absolute insanity.

"The gigs are full of energy – we want them to be unforgettable experiences.

"We want people to forget all about their troubles in life and all the b******t and just go for it. We will be sharing an insane and amazing night full of surprise and spectacle."

As well as LLF+D, they'll be bringing to life tracks from their three previous albums, including the monster hits The Kill, Beautiful Lie and Kings and Queens.

Tomo pipes up at this point, rather less intense than Jared and easier to talk to.

"When you step out on that stage, it fills you up with joy," says the Sarajevo-born, US-raised guitarist.

"Our fans are the maddest people in the world, they just go wild and that makes us want to go wild. They let loose and we're so glad that they do.

"But every night is quite unique. It's different people, different cities, different countries so you get different craziness. We want the gigs to be spontaneous and fresh. We want atmosphere."

The all-conquering group are huge across the world, but it is here in the UK where they feel a deep and genuine connection.

"You know, Europe, South America, North America, it doesn't matter where we go, we seem to strike up a connection with people," says Tomo.

"But you're right, the UK get what we're doing and we're grateful for that because we love coming here, we love performing here, we wouldn't change it for anything. The communication is there, the conversation is there, especially with social media.

"We're a band that have embraced social media right from the very beginning.

"We love that interactivity with the audience, that conversation. We love it, we love giving and receiving info and building that closer relationship with the fans."

Jared and Shannon, who's MIA from the interview, were born in Bossier City, Louisiana, and raised single-handily by their mother Constance. They moved around a lot, even setting up home in Haiti for a while when Jared was 12.

"There were some interesting living situations," he explains, saying he was pretty much in his own little world for the entire time and 'never the popular kid'.

But that all changed when he landed the role of Jordan Catalano in My So-Called Life and then made the leap into films, making his debut in How to Make an American Quilt back in 1995.

Since then, Jared's forever been in the spotlight, progressing from pin-up poster boy to serious actor and now musician.

But, what with all the attention constantly on him (a four-year engagement to Cameron Diaz hardly helped matters in that department) do Tomo and Shannon ever feel resentful? Would they like a little more of the spotlight?

"We don't have that adversary relationship," says Tomo. "Shannon's not here but I know I can speak for him on this one – we're both really proud to be in this band all together for so long. That sort of thing is not important to us, what is important is the audience.

"The audience come first. This is our fourth UK arena tour and we're so grateful that that has been able to happen. That's all that matters."

But it's Jared who has the last word on the subject.

"Come on," he growls, clearly tiring of the interview at this point. "We're all adults here."

* Thirty Seconds to Mars, supported by You Me At Six, perform at Birmingham NIA on Friday, November 15.

By Elizabeth Joyce