Jared Leto Talks About Making The Joker His Own in SUICIDE SQUAD
We've written a lot about how Jared Leto disappeared into the role of The Joker during production of David Ayer's Suicide Squad, to the point where co-star Will Smith never even met the actor during the six months they spent shooting the film. But we haven't heard much about it from Leto himself, other than a couple of quick comments about five months ago. Now EW has spoken with the actor about the men who embodied this character before, and his own unique take on Mr. J:
“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.
“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.”
Love it or hate it, it definitely sounds like Leto is going to be giving us a version of The Joker that's wildly different from the ones we're familiar with. We'll have to wait and see how fans react to his spin on the Clown Prince of Crime, but without having seen the movie yet, I'm excited about his approach to the role and am very intrigued to see just how bonkers he gets with it.
There's also this, which is all kinds of weird:
Suicide Squad hits theaters on August 5th.