Leto disliked 'Chapter 27' weight gain

LOS ANGELES, Sept. 29 (UPI) -- U.S. actor Jared Leto says having to gain 62 pounds for his role in the upcoming Hollywood film "Chapter 27" was a very unpleasant experience.

Us magazine reported that the 34-year-old actor said having to gain all the weight to portray Mark David Chapman, the man who killed John Lennon, in the film didn't hurt his self-esteem but negatively changed the way in which the world dealt with him.

"It didn't mess with my self esteem because I knew it was work. And I looked at it like climbing Mount Everest, or whatever a huge challenge would be for somebody, so I focused on that," Leto said. "But it did change the way people treated me ... there was some funny situations where a very powerful person ran into me, and they looked at me, and they were like 'Oh, You've just grown up, haven't you?'"

The magazine said that the "Requiem for a Dream" star confessed that immediately after filming on the drama completed he fasted for 10 days before joining his rock band, 30 Seconds on Mars, on the road for a U.S. tour.