Jared Leto Of "Dallas Buyers Club" To Receive The Hollywood Breakout Performance Award At The 17th Annual Hollywood Film Awards

HOLLYWOOD, Calif., Sept. 27, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Carlos de Abreu, founder and executive producer of the 17th Annual Hollywood Film Awards, announced today that Jared Leto of Focus Features' "Dallas Buyers Club" will be honored with the Hollywood Breakout Performance Award. The honor will be bestowed at the 17^th Annual Hollywood Film Awards Gala Ceremony on Monday evening, October 21^st, 2013 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills.

"Jared's portrayal of Rayon in 'Dallas Buyers Club' is infused with humanity and bravery, and is nothing short of a revelation. This is an exceptional tour-de-force of acting," said de Abreu. 

The Hollywood Film Awards honors cherished stars, filmmakers, and up-and-coming talent, and traditionally kicks off the film awards season with the biggest stars and top industry executives in attendance. Past Hollywood Breakout Performance Award honorees have included Jamie Foxx, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner, and Naomi Watts.

Last year's awards show received more than 41 million media impressions, in addition to more than 300 million online and print readers' impressions.

ABOUT JARED LETO
Jared Leto is an actor, musician, and director. His work as an actor has encompassed a host of intense and transformative performances. These have included his portrayals in "Requiem for a Dream"; "Prefontaine," as real-life athlete Steve Prefontaine; "Chapter 27," for which he won the Audience Award for "Best Performance" at the 2007 Zurich Film Festival; "Fight Club"; "Panic Room"; "American Psycho"; "Lord of War"; "Alexander"; "Lonely Hearts"; "Girl, Interrupted"; "The Thin Red Line"; and "Mr. Nobody."

He was recently honored with a Gotham Independent Film Award for his documentary feature "Artifact," which he produced with Emma Ludbrook; "Artifact" won the Gothams' Audience Award. The movie also won the People's Choice award, for documentaries, at the 2012 Toronto International Film Festival. Mr. Leto directed "Artifact" under the pseudonym Bartholomew Cubbins. Also under that name, he directs music videos for his multi-platinum-selling rock band Thirty Seconds to Mars. He is the lead vocalist, guitarist, and songwriter for the band, which includes Mr. Leto, his brother Shannon Leto, and Tomo Milicevic.

Thirty Seconds to Mars has released four studio records, including 2013's "Love Lust

Faith + Dreams." Among their rock radio hits have been the songs "This Is War" and "Kings and Queens." The band has circled the globe in sold-out shows, playing over 300 shows in nearly 60 countries on six continents to 3 million people, thereby breaking the Guinness World Record for the longest-ever concert tour by a rock band. Thirty Seconds to Mars has sold over 5 million albums worldwide and their music videos have received more than 300 million views on YouTube. The group has received numerous awards worldwide, including a dozen MTV Awards; a Billboard Music Award; and honors from NME, Kerrang!, and Fuse. They were most recently nominated for three 2013 MTV Video Music Awards, including Best Rock Video.

ABOUT "DALLAS BUYERS CLUB"
An imperfect man fights for survival during an uncertain time in America. Inspired by true events, Ron Woodroof's story of strength is told in "Dallas Buyers Club," directed by Jean-Marc Vallee from an original screenplay by Craig Borten & Melisa Wallack. Matthew McConaughey portrays the real-life character, whose self-interest is galvanized into something much more.

A son of Texas, Ron Woodroof is an electrician and rodeo cowboy. In 1985, he is well into an unexamined existence with a devil-may-care lifestyle. Suddenly, Ron is blindsided by being diagnosed as H.I.V.-positive and given 30 days to live. Yet he will not, and does not, accept a death sentence. His crash course of research reveals a lack of approved treatments and medications in the U.S., so Ron crosses the border into Mexico. There, he learns about alternative treatments and begins smuggling them into the U.S., challenging the medical and scientific community including his concerned physician, Dr. Eve Saks (Jennifer Garner). An outsider to the gay community, Ron finds an unlikely ally in fellow AIDS patient Rayon (Jared Leto), a transsexual who shares Ron's lust for life. Rayon also shares Ron's entrepreneurial spirit: seeking to avoid government sanctions against selling non-approved medicines and supplements, they establish a "buyers club," where H.I.V.-positive people pay monthly dues for access to the newly acquired supplies. Deep in the heart of Texas, Ron's pioneering underground collective beats loud and strong. With a growing community of friends and clients, Ron fights for dignity, education, and acceptance. In the years following his diagnosis, the embattled Lone Star loner lives life to the fullest like never before.

"Dallas Buyers Club" will be released in theaters this November by Focus Features.

ABOUT DICK CLARK PRODUCTIONS
Founded in 1957, dick clark productions, Inc. (DCP) is a leading independent producer of television programming. DCP produces perennial hits such as the "American Music Awards," "Golden Globe Awards," "Academy of Country Music Awards," and "Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve with Ryan Seacrest." DCP also produces popular weekly television programming, including "So You Think You Can Dance," and owns and maintains one of the world's most unique and extensive entertainment libraries, which includes more than 30 years of "American Bandstand" footage. For additional information, visit www.dickclark.com.

ABOUT THE HOLLYWOOD FILM AWARDS®
The Hollywood Film Awards®, founded in 1997, were created to celebrate Hollywood and launch the awards season. The recipients of the awards are selected by an Advisory Team for their body of work and/or a film(s) that is to be released during the calendar year. In the last 10 years, a total of 96 Oscar® nominations and 34 Oscars® were given to the honorees of the Hollywood Film Awards. For additional information, visit  www.hollywoodawards.com.

SOURCE Hollywood Film Awards