We've heard a lot about Jared Leto going method for his role as The Joker in Suicide Squad, and Yahoo Movies has a very interesting new piece up looking at both that and some of the movie's other cast members. It's the new intel about the Clown Prince of Crime which is most interesting though, especially as director David Ayer goes into great detail about the actor's take on the iconic bad guy.
He started off by addressing those very divisive tattoos and how they play a role in The Joker's story, explaining: "A lot of it has to do with creating a character with some kind of history and footprint in our world. And not have this sacrosanct being outside of our continuum, our reality. If a guy like him really existed today, where would he come from? How would he do business? Who would he know? What would he look like? In my mind, I took a lot of inspiration from drug lords on Instagram. It’s a great way to understand the lifestyle of a villain." That makes sense (especially as many compared Leto's Joker to James Franco in Spring Breakers), but it turns out that he has his body covered in tats for more than just superficial reasons. In fact, there may be a lot more to them than meets the eye.
"The tattoos tell a very specific story," Ayer continued. "And eventually people will decipher them and understand what’s going on, but obviously they’re contentious, any time you do something new it’s contentious. There’s very specific stories and easter eggs in those tattoos. And even his teeth, there’s an entire story behind that which is absolutely canon. It’s putting his history on his body. This Joker is a little more working class, who I believe could live in our world." That explanation is unlikely to change the minds of those who hate the tattoos, but it's obvious that the filmmaker has a very interesting and unique idea about how best to portray this iconic character in Suicide Squad.
Asked to elaborate on Leto's decision to go method, Ayer finishing by revealed: "With Jared, it’s tough for him. He constantly has to give birth to himself, he goes away, he comes back, he shoots, he goes away… The Joker is something you have to be, and you can see how exhausting and painful it is for him to be this character. But you can feel it when he comes to work, the crew feels it, everyone feels it. It’s like the birds stop flying. He’s f***ing terrifying." August 5th can't get here soon enough, right?
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