Rolling Stone has published a lengthy interview with Jared Leto about his career, and as you might expect, his role in Suicide Squad quickly came up. However, the journalist he was chatting too got more than he bargained for when the actor turned around and said, "If the Joker did this interview, he'd definitely castrate you and make you eat your own testicles. Just for fun. That's if he liked you."
The conversation took a more serious turn when Leto was asked about following in the footsteps of Heath Ledger, an actor who won a posthumous Oscar for his role in The Dark Knight. "Heath did an impeccable, perfect performance as the Joker. It's one of the best performances ever in cinema. I had met Heath before. I didn't know him well, but he was a beautiful person. I think had it only been portrayed by Heath and it was never a comic book, maybe I would have felt that would be inappropriate," Leto explained. "But I thought that given the history, it was OK. The good thing about other people having done this is that you know what direction not to head in."
In order to find the right direction to go in, the actor - who has also won an Oscar - started watching footage of violent crimes on YouTube and, as we already know, began to treat his co-stars in a very unusual fashion while on set by staying in character and sending them some odd gifts. However, when the publication caught up with Suicide Squad director David Ayer, he clarified those reports about Leto handing out one very peculiar sounding item in particular! "Look, they weren't used condoms. Let's be real here. They're removed from their packages, but it wasn't actually used. And, of course, I was mortified. Like, 'Jared, put that stuff away — get that out of here, what are you doing?'"
For what it's worth, Leto believes that going method as The Joker actually helped create a tighter bond between him, the cast, and crew. "The Joker became entertainment for a lot of the crew. So I think we all kind of bonded, even though I was in this place." August 5th can't get here soon enough!