‘Suicide Squad’ Star Jared Leto On ‘The Role Of A Lifetime’


Jared Leto plays one of the most iconic characters in the entire DC Comics universe in the upcoming Suicide Squad film and the importance of that role isn’t lost on the actor. Leto opens up about feeling an obligation to the fans of DC Comics in playing The Joker in Suicide Squad and what his own experiences were in becoming the character. Jared was given the opportunity to share his thoughts, as he stopped by Good Morning, America to discuss the upcoming release of the film.

Suicide Squad Star Jared Leto Gets Serious About Playing The Joker

In speaking about his role in Suicide Squad, Jared Leto takes the long history of The Joker very seriously and, as People shares, Leto has done his research on the DC Comics character.

“This character has been written about, acted, interpreted, reinterpreted, re-imagined for 75 years,” Leto said in the Friday interview. “So, to be asked to take the baton and run with it was quite an honor and a responsibility so I dove pretty deep, you could say.”

Many of the other Suicide Squad actors and crew have revealed that Jared took the role so seriously that he stayed in character throughout the filming process. Leto himself confirms this, saying that he felt it was important to really take on the persona of The Joker in order to do the character justice.

“When you take a part like this, you become a detective, a journalist in a way, and I have to say it was a role of a lifetime,” says the Suicide Squad star. “It was the most fun I think I’ve ever had.”

In playing The Joker for Suicide Squad, Jared says he sees the character as very lovable, though he admits that The Joker is also very sick and twisted, making for an oddly complex and disturbing individual. Even in recent years, there have been many film and television incarnations of the legendary Joker with the most recent performance winning Heath Ledger a posthumous Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. Other big names to have donned The Joker’s trademark make-up have been Jack Nicholson in Tim Burton’s Batman (1989) and Mark Hamill, who has played The Joker in Batman: The Animated Series. Hamill reprises The Joker in the newly released animated film, Batman: The Killing Joke.

Jared Leto Says He’ll Never Say Goodbye To The Joker

Leto reveals that playing The Joker also introduced him to one of his toughest challenges as an actor, reports Entertainment Weekly. He says mastering The Joker’s laugh for the Suicide Squad role was an ongoing process, one which involved plenty of practice and some truly horrible laughs.

“I remember wandering the streets in New York and Toronto, where we were shooting, and I would just laugh out loud and see how people would react to it,” the Suicide Squad star recalled. “When I started to hone in on this laugh, I realized it was the one that people would turn around and be like, ‘What the hell is that?'”

Jared Leto adds that he feels as though The Joker is still a part of him, dwelling deep in his subconscious, awaiting to reassert himself, whenever the opportunity might present itself. Does that mean Leto has plans to reprise his Suicide Squad character? There are no specific plans at present, but Leto hopes he will get to play The Joker again, either in another Suicide Squad film or some other DC Comics universe film.

“I feel like this film is an introduction to the Joker and I’m hopeful that we will see more to come,” says Leto.

Suicide Squad, starring Jared Leto, Will Smith, and Margot Robbie, will hit theaters on August 5.

[Image by DC Entertainment/Warner Bros.]

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