Jared Leto Says His TRON: ARES Character Is Like a “Stoic Samurai Warrior”

With Tron: Ares just days away from hitting theaters, Jared Leto is opening up about his mysterious and emotionally restrained role in the long-awaited sci-fi sequel.

The actor, who steps into the digital world as the titular Ares, recently shared new insights into his process of embodying a sentient program with no backstory or human experience.

In a recent interview with GamesRadar+, the Oscar-winning actor described the unique challenge of playing an AI character who’s discovering emotion and identity for the first time.

When referring to the blank-slate nature of Ares, Leto said:

“In some ways, it’s easier when you have a lot to grab a hold of, and I am used to exploring, kind of, some of the more colorful aspects of character.

“Ares is all about efficiency; I think about him as, like, a stoic samurai warrior. You know, not a wasted movement?”

That minimalist approach shapes Ares’ personality throughout the film.

“He’s really not very expressive and probably not the first person to talk about his feelings, especially at the beginning of the film, but then he goes on a journey. He starts to open up.

“Obviously, there’s only so much time you have in a big movie like this to explore the nuances of characters, where you have to kind of explain a lot.

“But we did talk so much about the discovery process for Ares, and what that must have been like to have these human experiences for the very first time. That was a lot of fun. I found it really exciting.”

Directed by Joachim Rønning, Tron: Ares marks the next chapter in Disney’s digital frontier saga, diving deep into humanity’s first contact with artificial intelligence and it ended up being a pretty awesome film! I know the reviews have been mixed, but I loved it!

Tron: Ares opens in theaters on October 10, 2025, and fans can expect a visually stunning, emotionally grounded exploration of what it means to be human in a world born from code.