Leto would be raised by his mother, Constance, until she married Dr. Carl Leto. Dr. Leto adopted Jared and his brother, Shannon, relates Earth Necklace.
The boys' upbringing might look a bit unorthodox to most, but Leto credits his creativity to the way his mother raised him. Constance gave birth to both children while she was still a teenager, according to a heartwarming acceptance speech that Leto gave at the Oscars in 2014, per Business Insider. She was a dropout. The family was poor, living on food stamps. Eventually, the family lived with Leto's grandparents. His grandfather was in the U.S. Air Force, so they had to move around quite a bit. At one point, according to Female First, Leto found himself living in a commune in the woods with his mother and brother. Not having a stable place to call home can be rough on anyone, but Leto says, "having the art communal hippie experience as a child" nurtured his creativity. They were surrounded by artists of every sort.
The lack of direction Leto faced as a kid drew him into drugs when he was a teenager. He wasn't sure what he'd do with his life and "drug dealer" was a real possibility for him, as he told Big Issue in a 2013 interview. Luckily, he kicked the drug problem and went straight edge by the time he enrolled in art school.
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