Jenelle Riley Deputy Awards, Features EditorWhen Jared Leto took on the starring role in Apple TV+’s “We Crashed” playing Adam Neumann, he says he didn’t have know a lot about the co-founder of WeWork.
Neumann was often portrayed in the media as an eccentric mogul — someone who wanted to build offices on the planet Mars, often went without shoes and claimed to have close connections to political figures that gave him a voice in world events.“I didn’t really have any preconceived ideas, I just heard that he was a pretty colorful character; that he was a fascinating guy, that he was great in the room, a great salesperson,” Leto says on this week’s edition of Variety’s Awards Circuit podcast. “And of course, then you see headlines and you know that he the built a company from nothing into a $47 billion empire, and then it all fell apart.” Listen below!Leto stars opposite Anne Hathaway (who plays Adam’s wife and business partner Rebekah Neumann) in the eight-episode limited series.
Based on the Wondery podcast “WeCrashed: The Rise and Fall of WeWork,” the story details how the couple’s ambition and hubris helped launched their startup company – but also led to their downfall.
Leto has played real people before – most recently nabbing a SAG Award nomination for his role in the film “House of Gucci” – but “WeCrashed” gave him a unique opportunity to actually meet the person he was portraying.
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