Jared Leto is no stranger to committing wholly and solely to a role. For his role in Dallas Buyer’s Club, he lost about 15 kilograms, shaved his entire body, and refused to break character for the entirety of the movie. Will Smith, who plays Deadshot, recently told Beats 1 that the actor has taken his role as The Joker in Suicide Squad just as seriously.
“[Suicide Squad] is insane,” Smith said, “I’ve never actually met Jared Leto. We worked together for six months and we’ve never exchanged a word outside of ‘Action!’ and ‘Cut!’ I literally have not met him yet. So, the first time I see him will be ‘Hey, Jared. What’s up?’ He was all in on the Joker.”
Smith and Leto’s co-star Adam Beach, Slipknot, verifies Smith’s claims, speaking of Leto’s bizarre gifts sent from The Joker.
“He sent [Margot Robbie] a nice love letter with a black box with a rat in it—a live rat,” Beach told E!. “It was beautiful. Then he sent bullets to Will [Smith] with a letter.”
According to Beach, Leto also sent the cast a video and a “dead hog.” Beach explained of the cryptic gestures,
“Basically, what he said was, ‘Guys, I can’t be there but I want you to know I’m doing my work as hard as you guys. . . . The video he showed is in character. It blew our minds away. Then we realised that day, this is real.”
Obviously people are drawing parallels between Leto and his famous predecessor Heath Ledger, who also approached the role as a method actor. Ledger’s father, Kim, has since revealed,
“He pretty well locked himself up in a hotel, in his apartment, for a month or so, to sort of galvanize the upcoming character in his own mind. . . . That was typical of Heath on any movie. He would certainly immerse himself in the upcoming character. I think this was just a whole new level.”
We have high hopes for Leto’s disturbing depiction of the villain, and the film itself. Have a sneak peek at the trailer here if you haven’t already.
