A celebrity making a cameo appearance in a music video is no surprise these days, however, Thirty Seconds to Mars takes it to another level for the single “City of Angels” from their album Love Lust Faith + Dreams. Directed by the band’s frontman, Jared Leto, the 11-minute short film features famous faces including Kanye West, Lindsay Lohan, James Franco, Selena Gomez, all three members of the band, iconic Hollywood impersonators and many others.
Opening the short film, Kanye West lists what signifies Los Angeles to him: “Pools, 1950s architectural homes, glamour, muscles cars…” which then leads into the others candidly sharing their stories of the city.
Shots of the band overlooking the Los Angeles cityscape break up the confessional style clips creating a moving music video that discusses the pros and cons of the city of angels.
“The city of angels is where I was able to find myself again, the real me,” Lohan says. West speaks of how the city took his mother, but it also gave him his child. “The city of angels is my paradox, my nightmares and my dreams,” he says. Leto sums up his feelings to the camera with, “I wouldn’t have anything if it wasn’t for this city.”
Ashley Olsen, Shaun White, Olivia Wilde, Alan Cumming, Juliette Lewis, Corey Feldman, and Steve Nash also appear in the short film to explain their relationship with Los Angeles. Wilde reflects on her initial feelings for the city, “I thought it was the most magical place I had ever been, it’s the promise land,” she says. Others examine how fame and dreams tie into the city. A powerful statement comes from Olsen when she says, “Fame is an illusion.”
The pinnacle moment of the short film comes on the heels of Leto sharing, “As I got older I realized that if I wanted to make some of my creative dreams come true, I needed to go west.” Cut to Leto belting out, “I am home.”
Love Lust Faith + Dreams is available on iTunes and the acoustic version of “City of Angels” featured on the soundtrack for Leto’s new film “Dallas Buyers Club” was just made available for purchase as well. Thirty Seconds to Mars is currently on tour and you can check out their tour dates here.
Check out this fascinating and emotional music video and let us know what you think in the comments below.
Ashley Kiely
@ashmkiely
