The Surprising World Leader That Influenced Jared Leto In The Little Things

As a part of The Little Things' promotional tour, Looper had the chance to attend a virtual press junket with the cast and crew behind the film. During the event, Leto fielded a couple of questions about his character Albert Sparma and the physicality that went into bringing him to life on screen. First and foremost, he addressed the level of prosthetics necessary to fully realize Sparma. "I'm in different color eyes, I had a different nose, we had some other prosthetics, different teeth," Leto shared. He continued, mentioning with a laugh that he and director John Lee Hancock went "looking for the very worst wig in all of Hollywood" for him to wear, but narrowly came up short.

Aside from Sparma's physical appearance, Leto also touched on some of the character's mannerisms, namely his unnatural walk. He shared, "The walk, I actually took it from Kim Jong-[un]," then added, "I thought that Sparma feels pretty powerful when he walks across a room, so I kind of got into that way." Comparing that description to footage of the North Korean leader making his signature power-walk, it's easy to see where Leto found inspiration in trying to make his big-screen alter-ego appear more imposing.

Even still, this is a rather odd source of inspiration to be sure, considering it's not every day that thespians cite dictatorial leaders as their performative muses. But if it takes Jared Leto's Albert Sparma from good to great, then you can't argue with the effectiveness of the actor's methods.

The Little Things will arrive in select theaters and on HBO Max on Friday, January 29.