Jared Leto is on the cover of the August 11th issue of Rolling Stone magazine, and there’s a big feature story on him inside. It was published online today, and Leto talks a lot about playing The Joker in Suicide Squad.
At one point during the interview, kind of randomly, Leto just blurted out “If the Joker did this interview, he’d definitely castrate you and make you eat your own testicles. Just for fun. That’s if he liked you.” That definitely set the tone for the rest of the interview!
Leto commented on Heath Ledger’s brilliant portrayal of The Joker, saying “Heath did an impeccable, perfect performance as the Joker. It’s one of the best performances ever in cinema. I had met Heath before. I didn’t know him well, but he was a beautiful person.”
He went on to say that because so many different people have played The Joker, like Cesar Romero and Jack Nicholson, and even Mark Hamill in the animated Batman series, he felt that it was OK to take on the role after Ledger.
“I think had it only been portrayed by Heath and it was never a comic book, maybe I would have felt that would be inappropriate,” Leto says. “But I thought that given the history, it was OK. The good thing about other people having done this is that you know what direction not to head in.”
Leto even admitted that he watched real violent crimes in order to help him prepare to play The Joker!
“The Joker is incredibly comfortable with acts of violence,” says Leto. “I was watching real violence, consuming that. There’s a lot you can learn from seeing it. Not every act of violence is committed with frenzy, either. I remember learning that. People can be calm. They’ve made their choice and go and do something, and it’s not in a frenzy.” His eyes have gone cold. “It’s methodical and sometimes even hypnotic and deliberate.”
Earlier this year Leto told the press that he sent “used condoms” to his Suicide Squad cast mates, but director David Ayer told Rolling Stone that wasn’t true.
“Look, they weren’t used condoms,” says Ayer. “Let’s be real here. They’re removed from their packages, but it wasn’t actually used. And, of course, I was mortified. Like, ‘Jared, put that stuff away — get that out of here, what are you doing?'”
Rapper/actor Common, who has a small henchman role in Suicide Squad raved about Leto’s performance. “He was not afraid of being all up in my face looking like he’s ready to kiss me,” says Common. “You could feel the danger, you could feel the sexuality, the craziness, but there was something still cool about him.”
SOURCE: Rolling Stone
