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Jared Leto’s Career Post Joker Role: A Romantic Comedy Lead? Actor Wants His Shot At The Dying Genre

By Niki Cruz
Published on: 00:39 PST, Aug 4, 2016

Just recently, Jared Leto said he would love to retire after playing The Joker a few more times, but it looks like Leto has reevaluated that comment and the sky is the limit. So what exactly does this mean for Leto’s career?

Well, it sounds like Leto really wants to expand his palette as an actor. Leto, who has an Academy Award for his dramatic turn in Dallas Buyers Club, wants to take his shot and star in a romantic comedy.

The RomCom, which has suffered for the past decade, has been such a struggling genre that many have seen post 90s as the death of the genre as it barely clung to the early 00’s. In 2014, LA Weekly wondered who had “killed” the genre.

The piece stated that the last film to really make a big buck off of the genre was in 2005, but after that, the genre faltered and eventually flatlined. The RomComs that existed later towards the millennium like Friends With Benefits and No Strings Attached, were so aware of themselves as being RomComs they were reduced to cynicism and poking fun at the genre itself.

LA Weekly has a few theories on what happened:

“Some observers blame teenagers, who aren’t interested in any romance that doesn’t start with a “bro” (and preferably stars two guys in capes). Others blame men who think they’ll lose testosterone if they buy tickets to any movie with a whiff of chick flick about it.”

Then there’s matinee stars to consider. With stars like Sandra Bullock, Reese Witherspoon, and Julia Roberts, staple actresses in the genre, moving on to meatier roles in drama, and Meg Ryan’s career flaming out, the genre took a big hit, but perhaps we need an outsider like Jared Leto to save it?

In an interview with E!, Leto agrees with the reporter that it would be great to star in a romantic comedy.

“Wouldn’t that be nice? We could shoot in Hawaii. We’ll do the junket in Hawaii. I can just be my normal non-waxed self. That would be wonderful. That would be fun. I would like to do something.”

That said, we don’t exactly know what kind of RomCom Jared has in mind, because according to the actor, he sees Suicide Squad as a film that has elements of a RomCom. As we know, there’s a twisted relationship between his character The Joker and Harley Quinn, whom he tortures and manipulates in the film. Of the film, Leto said:

“I think people will be surprised because it’s pretty funny, And there’s a romance.”

While it would be great to see Leto reinventing the RomCom genre, odds are it’s going to be a while before the actor can get out of the role as The Joker to show a different side of himself. As The Inquisitr reported, Leto sees himself playing the role at least a few times before he says goodbye to the villain.

Of the role, Leto told People magazine:

“This character has been written about, acted, interpreted, reinterpreted, re-imagined for 75 years. 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.”

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

As it is, Leto said he’s open to seeing Leto really battle Ben Affleck’s Batman, and while Affleck is slated to direct a solo Batman film, there’s a possibility that the actor will have a chance to go head to head in an earlier performance. Reports have said that Leto was seen in London while Affleck was filming Justice League.

[Photo by AP Photo/Joel Ryan]

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