Jared Leto chose to pursue dreams over drugs

Oscar-winning actor Jared Leto felt sure he was destined to be either an artist or a drug dealer.

The 44-year-old lived somewhat of a bohemian existence growing up with his single mother and brother Shannon and when he reached his teens he got caught up in a world of drugs and thought his life would go one of two ways, neither of which would lead to Hollywood.

"They both had their own risk and reward," he told Rolling Stone with a smirk.

And his drug culture lifestyle landed him in a lot of trouble as a wild teen, revealing he was arrested on a number of occasions.

"My experience with drugs? I did them, lots of them," he said. "A lot of them were really fun. There are just those few that tend to kick you in the a**. I guess at some point, too, there's a decision: Is this going to be my life? I made a choice to pursue other dreams."

"I guess that's just the kind of f**ked thing about a lot of drugs: The opportunity cost is too high," he mused. "Some drugs are incredible, but the risk versus reward is out of line. I just saw too many examples of what not to do."

However, celebrity and fame were so foreign to Leto, who admits he had no idea what the members of his favorite band, Led Zeppelin, even looked like.

"I thought musicians and actors and these types of people were like magic," he explained. "It was royalty or you were born into it, or it was some stroke of luck or genius."

Jared kicked his bad habits and went on to achieve major success as an actor in Hollywood, topped off by his Best Supporting Actor award for his work on Dallas Buyers Club at the 2014 Oscars.