Jared Leto falls into that special class of actors, along with Sean Penn, Daniel Day-Lewis, and Joaquin Phoenix, who refuse to break character while on set. So, it should come as no surprise — especially considering how he’s transformed for the role — that Leto would this level of method acting to the upcoming Suicide Squad film.
Collider spoke with the film’s producer Charles Roven to get some deets on the film and the major takeaways were (as per Uproxx): “No new Suicide Squad trailer til the beginning of next year. The film is going to be as close to rated R as they can get while still snagging the coveted PG-13 rating, and the plan is for every DC Cinematic Universe movie to be PG-13 for ‘tonal consistency.’”
While that last tidbit is a bit disappointing, as an R-rating for Suicide Squad just feels right, Roven did reveal some comforting information for fans looking forward to Leto’s take on “The Joker” character:
“Look, you know, it was different, it was fun. The group first wasn’t sure because the AD’s had to call him ‘Mr. J’ to get him to come to the set [laughs]. And he did in many ways isolate himself from the rest of the group, but that’s really what his character was, the purpose of his character in many ways, other than when he was with Harley or trying to get Harley. It was very entertaining, it was fuel for a lot of good sport and a lot of laughs, and his isolation bonded the squad, and we wanted the squad bonded.”
This is info is as much exciting as it is concerning. The last incarnation of The Joker we’ve see was in 2008’s The Dark Knight as played by the late Heath Ledger. Similarly to Leto, Ledger also isolated himself from other, locking himself in his apartment for a month prior to filming, to get the character. He also similarly didn’t respond to his own name. “Heath refused to talk to anyone out of character,” a source told Fox News following his untimely death in 2008. “If you tried to communicate with him normally instead of The Joker, he would just ignore you.” It has been widely insinuated that Ledger’s level of commitment to the role lead to him overdosing on prescription medicine and eventual death.
Alls not dark on the set of Suicide Squad however. The cast apparently has been getting along famously, sans Leto, and the cohesion will likely translate seamlessly in the film, which is set to release August 5, 2016. Check out some of the cast photos below.
#skwad pic.twitter.com/HOZDytXnjp
— David Ayer (@DavidAyerMovies) August 18, 2015
