People are shocked by Jared Leto’s age as he posts shirtless photo for birthday

Jared Leto caught fans by surprise by showing off his age-defying looks in a smouldering shirtless photo to highlight his birthday.

On Sunday, the House of Gucci actor turned 50, but many people weren’t able to tell just from looking at the picture.

The Oscar winner took to his Instagram to post the topless photo of himself sitting in a chair while holding a piece a generous size of a multicoloured cake while making the thumbs-up gesture.

“Thx for all the bday wishes!” he captioned the post.

It looked like the pic was snapped mid-filming, as he has a bit of fake blood on the side of his mouth and an oily torso.

People in the comments of his Instagram post were evidently surprised by his age.

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“Happy birthday to our amazing living vampire,” someone jokingly wrote.

“OMG, you are really 50 years old?” another added.

A third wrote: “Happy Birthday @jaredleto! What moisturizer do you use! Your skin looks amazing!”

Leto is slated to appear in the upcoming Spider-Man spin-off Morbius, which will land in theaters next month.

He is portraying the character of Dr Michael Morbius, a scientist who is trying to cure himself of a rare blood disease.

While attempting to treat himself, he infects himself with a form of vampirism.

Morbius also came onto the Spider-Man scene initially as a villain.

But now, he is a bit of an antihero in his own series.

Speaking to IGN, Leto noted that he was interested in the role of Morbius because he “is a pretty complex character.”

“This is somebody who has a lot of conflict in his life. He’s a guy who’s born with this horrible disease and is really a gifted person,” Leto told the outlet, in part.

But despite this, he also noted that Morbius has “a moral code” and is a “good person.”

“Ultimately, it’s that common struggle between good and evil. And, I guess, we’ll see what ultimately prevails,” he continued.