Jared Leto emerged from a 12-day silent meditation retreat in March 2020 to find the world had gone into lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The actor recalled the “shocking” experience on Monday’s episode of The Tonight Show.
“When I went away, there were about 150 cases,” Leto told host Jimmy Fallon. “And just in that short amount of time, when I came out, there was a shutdown, a state of emergency, and the whole world had changed. But when we were in there, they didn’t tell us.”
Leto noted that he and the other guests at the retreat were prohibited from using cellphones or having any form of communication with the outside world.
“I didn’t turn on my phone until I went back to LA, so I drove the whole way, you know, trying to be, like, peaceful and zen, keep the feeling going,” Leto explained. “I got back, and I was kind of shocked. It was like Rip Van Winkle.”
Fallon suggested it was “like a Twilight Zone episode, but in real life.”
“It was shocking,” Leto agreed. “I had this great tool to deal with stress and things in life, but I don’t think anything can quite prepare any of us for what we all went through at the beginning. It was like coming out to the zombie apocalypse.”
Watch above, via YouTube.
The post WATCH: Jared Leto Recalls Emerging From Silent Retreat to Covid Pandemic: ‘Like the Zombie Apocalypse’ first appeared on Mediaite.