Jared Leto Talks 'Painful' Process Becoming the Joker in “Suicide Squad”

ABC/Randy Holmes(LOS ANGELES) — Information about Suicide Squad has been trickling out here and there. Recently, the film’s star Will Smith opened up about how he never met Jared Leto, who plays the Joker in the movie, because Leto was always in character. Now, Leto himself is finally talking about the difficult process of becoming Batman’s greatest foe.

“There was definitely a period of…detachment,” he told Empire magazine in its latest issue. “I took a pretty deep dive. But this was a unique opportunity and I couldn’t imagine doing it another way.”

In fact, co-star Adam Beach reportedly said that Leto, acting in character, sent Margot Robbie, who plays Harley Quinn, a rat. Robbie, playing the Joker’s love interest in the film, kept the rat as a pet.  “It was fun, playing those psychological games,” Leto explained. “It was painful, like giving birth out of my p****-****.”

Director David Ayer said Leto’s transformation was quite frightening. “By some freaking miracle, through the incredible things Jared has done and the photography and all the other things that went into it, we’ve cooked up something transcendent. He’s scary,” he added.

Suicide Squad, also starring Ben Affleck as Batman and Viola Davis, opens nationwide August 2016.

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