Jared Leto FaceTimes Terminally Ill Fan on Her Birthday

Morbius actor Jared Leto surprised a terminally ill Russian woman on her 27th birthday with a FaceTime call, making the Thirty Seconds To Mars superfan’s day. “I’m happy to see you!” Anastasia Petrova told Leto in the video reports Page Six. “You’re talking to me! It’s amazing!” The duo chatted about pets and music while Petrova showed Leto the cardboard cutout of him that she’s had for over a decade.

“I see you smiling and I’m happy you’re smiling,” Leto said. “I’m thinking about you over here and I’m happy to talk to you.” When he asked how she was feeling, Petrova, who lives in hospice, explained that she wasn’t feeling well and was taking morphine for her undisclosed illness. Leto told her that he wished he could give her a “big hug” and say hello to her family. “You can give them a hug from me to them and I’ll be thinking of you over here,” he told her.

The call was organized through Vera, a Russian charity fund that works with terminally ill hospice patients. According to a local Russian outlet, Petrova’s brother Maxim was the one who approached Vera with the request to speak to Leto. “My dream is for Jared to find out that there is this girl in Russia who is smart, beautiful, ambitious, and loving, who believes in herself, in us, in the power of the [Thirty Seconds to] Mars family,” he said. “I dream that she hears words of support, not only from me, her mum, and sisters but also from her long-time idol and friend Jared Leto.”

The House of Gucci actor recently made headlines after getting caught up in an anti-vaccination protest in Italy. Leto was hit with tear gas on Saturday night while passing through the protest in Rome, Italy. Leto posted about the incident on his Instagram Story, explaining that he was not participating in the protest and was there by mistake. He shared some harrowing photos of the encounter.

“Got caught in a protest in Italy. From what I gather it was about vaccine mandates / green pass. Got tear-gassed then called it a night,” Leto wrote on the now-expired post. Screenshots of the Story are circulating on social media, showing heavily armored Italian police confronting protesters in the streets. Leto did not reveal his personal thoughts on vaccination, government mandates, or police.