Jared Leto has expressed an interest in a more consistent return to acting; he’s just been waiting for the right role to come along. Well it looks like that role has arrived in the form of the Oliver Stone Edward Snowden biopic, in which Leto is currently odds on favourite to star as the lead. 

Jared LetoJared Leto is favorite for the role of Edward Snowden

The 30 Seconds to Mars lead singer received huge praise for his turn as Rayon in Dallas Buyers Club, leading to an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. And despite some calls for transgender actor to have been cast instead of Leto, the general consensus was that he did a marvellous job of portraying the fictional HIV/Aids victim. 

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"I'm looking at scripts and reading scripts," Leto told AP back in April, "which is interesting because I didn't read scripts for years before Dallas Buyers Club. But now you have opportunities to work with people that you really respect or admire, people whose work has been inspiring and influential."

Now, Leto is odds on favourite, according to Paddy Power who have the actor at 8/1, to star in Oliver Stone’s adaptation of The Snowden Files, an account of the ongoing NSA scandal written by the Guardian journalist Luke Harding. Should he land the role, he’ll be in safe hands given Stone has handled subkects like the Kennedy assignation, the Watergate break-in, Vietnam and ‘the war on terror’ under the Bush administration. 

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"This is one of the greatest stories of our time. A real challenge. I'm glad to have the Guardian working with us," Stone, 67, said in a statement. "The story of Edward Snowden is truly extraordinary, and the unprecedented revelations he brought to light have forever transformed our understanding of - and relationship with - government and technology," said Alan Rusbridger, the Guardian's editor-in-chief. "We're delighted to be working with Oliver Stone and Moritz Borman on the film."

Other actors in contention for the role are Ed Norton, Jake Gyllenhaal, Aaron Taylor Johnson and Shia LeBeouf.