Hollywood movie stars are no strangers to method acting. Stars like Daniel Day-Lewis, Robert De Niro, Marlon Brando, and others have a reputation for accepting a part and remaining in it the entire time, whether or not a scene is being shot. And actor Jared Leto made the same choice about embodying the Joker in the DC comic book role in Warner Bros. Pictures’ Suicide Squad.
In an earlier interview, Will Smith—who portrayed Floyd Lawton/Deadshot in David Ayer’s 2016 superhero film—exposed that he rarely had any interactions with Leto during the six-month production of the DC Comics film. The I Am Legend star, who costarred in the $747 million film (Suicide Squad) with My So-Called Life actor, claimed that Leto rarely let go of his Joker role.
Will Smith Only Knew Jared Leto As The Joker On The Suicide Squad Set
Jared Leto didn’t seem to have spent any time getting to know his co-stars because he was so dedicated to playing the Joker in the Warner Bros. Pictures film Suicide Squad. Will Smith, who played Deadshot in the movie, disclosed in an interview on Beats 1 (via EW) that Leto lived up to his character the entire time he was on set:
“I’ve never actually met Jared Leto. We worked together for 6 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.”
Leto’s outrageous antics on the Suicide Squad set have previously made headlines in the entertainment industry. Adam Beach, who played Slipknot in the film, previously told E! Online that the actor-musician, 51, sent some odd messages to his co-stars on set:
“He sent [Margot Robbie] a nice love letter with a black box… 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.”
Will Smith Narrated an Unsettling Story From The Set Of Suicide Squad
At San Diego Comic-Con, Will Smith commanded the Suicide Squad panel by telling tales of the several horrors he suffered on set at the hands of Jared Leto, who played the Joker. He narrated a tale of Leto giving Margot Robbie an especially repulsive present (via TIME):
“This dude walks in and goes I have a message from Mr. J. And he puts a box down in front of Margot being like this is a gift from Mr. J in honor of your relationship.”
Robbie began to open the box and inside was a Joker note. And Smith thought,
“That’s cool. That’s funny. Jared is like taking it real serious. And Margot opened the box and there was a live rat in the box. I was playing Deadshot, but if I had pearls on, I would have clutched them.”
It was not just Leto’s method acting that presented psychological difficulties in the movie. Smith claimed that the director David Ayer also challenged the actors’ minds:
“We all shared really deep stories about ourselves and our pains and our triumphs. And then on set you thought he was being a nice guy you were trying to share your life, and then in the middle of a scene he [David Ayer] throws your childhood trauma back at you and says, ‘Dude, the Joker did it.’”
With a global box office total of over $746 million, Ayer’s Suicide Squad is the tenth highest-grossing movie of 2016. The film was the recipient of an Academy Award, having won the 89th Academy Awards for Best Makeup and Hairstyling. The 2020 spin-off film Birds of Prey, starring Robbie, came after it.
Suicide Squad is streaming on Amazon Prime Video.
