Jared Leto, First Person to Legally Summit Empire State Building, Admits Feat Was ‘Harder Than I Thought It Would Be’ (Video)

Jared Leto is nothing if not an entertainer that goes all-in with a big swing — and Thursday morning may have been one of his biggest yet, as he climbed the Empire State Building.

As “Today” exclusively reported in the video above, the “Dallas Buyers Club” Oscar winner and Thirty Seconds to Mars frontman got, well, closer to Mars while becoming the first person to legally summit the top of the Empire State Building. (All in promotion of his band’s upcoming tour, apparently.)

Speaking with Al Roker, Savannah Guthrie, Carson Daly and co., Leto admitted after his descent that the journey was “very, very hard. It was a lot harder than I thought it would be.”

“Just the endurance that it took, the stamina that it took — and it was very sharp,” he added.

The feat marked an impressive — albeit random — world record, as the 51-year-old Leto became the first person to legally scale the nearly 1,300-foot heights of the iconic building in midtown Manhattan.

“It’s incredible,” he said. “To watch the sun rise overlooking the city that’s meant so much to me. Ever since I was a kid, New York stood for the place that you went to make your dreams come true… And as a young kid, I wanted to be an artist, and New York was the place that you came to be an artist. And the Empire State Building was always that symbol for me.”

Climbing from floors 86 to 104, the multi-hyphenate talent completed his ascent of the Empire State Building after reaching the landmark’s ice shield at the base of its iconic antenna. In all, the climb took about 20 minutes, per “Today.”

Leto is a longtime climber — his documentary “Great Wide Open” had him exploring national parks like Yosemite and Yellowstone. He expressed to “Today” that he’s particularly fond of urban climbs.

“I’ve always had a fascination with the Empire State Building,” he said, “and I love to climb… I do like to climb buildings in cities. It’s a really fun thing to do.”

Another of Leto’s recent stunts saw him scaling the exterior of a Berlin hotel before bungee jumping into a crowd at a concert earlier this year.

Watch the actor and rock star’s “Today” interview in the video above.

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