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Jared Leto set to play the role of Hugh Hefner in biopic

The Playboy founder passed away last week

WENN.com

Jared Leto is set to play the role of Hugh Hefner in an upcoming biopic.

The Suicide Squad actor reached out to director Brett Ratner about playing the role of the iconic Playboy founder, who passed away last week at the age of 91.

Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, Brett said, “Jared is an old friend. When he heard I got the rights to Hef’s story, he told me, ‘I want to play him. I want to understand him.’

“And I really believe Jared can do it. He’s one of the great actors of today.”

Rachel Worth / WENN

The film is in early development with Ratner’s RatPac Entertainment, and Brett has been keen to direct the biopic since 2007.

The rights to the film were bought by producer Jerry Weintraub for Warner Bros, however, Jerry died in 2015 – and Brett took the opportunity to snap up the rights for his own company.

Back in April, Brett invited Jared to the Playboy Mansion for the premiere of Amazon’s docuseries American Playboy: The Hugh Hefner Story, in order to introduce him to Hef.

A post shared by JARED LETO (@jaredleto) on

Unfortunately, the Playboy founder’s health was deteriorating by then, and he wasn’t greeting guests that day – but Brett is still confident that Jared will do an amazing job.

“There’s enough footage on Hef out there that Jared will be able to get as much information as he wants.”

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