Jared Leto insists that he isn’t a role model to his fans - and doesn’t want to be.

The musician-and-actor thinks it’s absurd that artists are automatically expected to set standards for their young followers and he insists he doesn’t feel any pressure to behave in a certain way. Instead, he thinks it should be enough for his fans to be inspired by the success he and his brother Shannon Leto have achieved with their band 30 Seconds to Mars, despite their poor upbringing.

“I can do whatever the f**k I want. I have no responsibility to uphold an image. I don’t subscribe to the notion the artist is a role model by default. Look to the idea that you could be a poor white-trash kid and along with your brother put one foot in front of the other and make your dream come true. That’s the lesson. It’s not if I failed here and there with my life, or made mistakes. To have to keep secrets would be pointless.”

Although he spends a lot of time with his brother on the road, he insists they have a fantastic relationship, unlike other music-making siblings. “It’s not an Oasis situation, it’s great! Me and my brother were just two poor, white-trash kids from Louisiana and clawed our way up the muddy banks of the Mississippi with food stamps in one hand and our instruments in the other,” Jared, 38, explained to Elle.