Jared Leto has cleared up speculation about his on-set behaviour while making 2016 film Suicide Squad.
The actor took on the role of the Joker in the DC movie, though co-star Viola Davis claimed around the time it was released that he sent a dead pig to his fellow castmates, as well as a live black rat to Margot Robbie.
Slipknot actor Adam Bleach also claimed in 2015 that Leto sent Will Smith bullets in a letter, while producer Charles Roven said that Leto wanted to be referred to as ‘Mr J’ on set.
Addressing the claims in a new interview with GQ, Leto clarified: “It’s also interesting how this stuff all takes on a life of its own. I never gave Margot Robbie a dead rat. That’s just, that’s not true. I actually gave her a lot of – I found this place in Toronto that had great vegan cinnamon buns, and that was a very common thing.”
Leto also described working on Suicide Squad as “an incredible opportunity”, adding: “I guess it’s this generation’s version of taking on an infamous Shakespearean character. Lots of people played the part before, lots of people [will play] it in the future, so it’s an opportunity to do something new and to explore challenging territory.”
He added of being part of a huge franchise: “There’s a lot of pressure when you are a part of those big movies. Just forget the character for a second – when you’re a part of these giant movies, they inherently come with even maybe more responsibility, it feels like.”
Leto continued: “I’ve done mostly smaller movies […] So that was like a step into a whole new world. But it was a lot of fun. There was a mutual kind of respect and support on set, and just the feeling of camaraderie. I stay a little bit separate because I felt like my character was separate. But it was great to hear the laughter and camaraderie that was in abundance on set.”
Leto is set to reprise his role as the Joker in Zack Synder’s upcoming version of Justice League, which recently debuted a new trailer that showed a glimpse of his character.
Meanwhile, Suicide Squad is set to be rebooted by James Gunn, the director recently confirming that his film is “fully finished and cut”.
