Jared Leto Finally Gets His Chance To Describe How Great The Joker Is In ‘Suicide Squad’

Up to this point, we’ve gotten many different descriptions of Jared Leto as The Joker in Suicide Squad. Will Smith said he never actually met Jared Leto during the shoot, he was always The Joker. Margot Robbie was apparently petrified from time to time. There were rats and a pig brought on set according to Viola Davis. And David Ayer has had nothing but wonderful things to say. But what about Leto himself?

The movie is close to hitting theaters this summer and we’re just now getting around to hearing what Leto has to say about his performance, the people who have played him before, and his general idea coming into the movie. In a chat with Entertainment Weekly, Leto opens up about his crazy strategy on the set. But before he jumps into that, he gives much praise to the men who have come before. This includes Jack Nicholson and Heath Ledger:

“The work that’s been done on this character by so many people before me has been so impactful, so incredible, so much fun, so profound, so risky, that it’s a very special thing to be asked to take on that responsibility,”

Now when it comes to emulating any of those actors, don’t expect too much. Leto lays out exactly what he had to do in order to make this role special:

“You just knew you had to do something different. You had to make it your own. That happens all the time. Whether you’re a composer working on a piece of music that was written a century ago, or you’re an actor on stage, reinterpreting a play, it’s very common these days. Directors take on great works of cinema, actors reinterpret roles, that’s been going on for a great deal of time. From Scarface to Hamlet. In some ways it’s really interesting to reinterpret, redefine.

“It a weighty thing to do. But it’s exciting. The Joker is one of those roles. He was written brilliantly when he was first shared with the world 75 years ago, or something crazy like that. And I think I’m just really grateful I had the opportunity.”

Scarface, Hamlet, a composer working on a symphony. All things you think about when you think The Joker. Actually it could very well be since he’s one of those characters that is like a blank slate almost. The literal wildcard that can be tossed out when needed to tie up a loose end or two.

Then just to drive things home, Leto posted the following bearded video to his Twitter page:

It doesn’t seem like we’ve ever seen The Joker grow a beard before, have we? Seems he did it once in Batman: Cacophony , but I don’t know if we’re ready for an actual bearded Joker. It might be too much.

(Via Entertainment Weekly / Jared Leto)

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