In the words of the great poet Eminem: I'll be one tough act to follow. That's the sentiment pretty much the entire world feels about Heath Ledger's Oscar-winning performance as the Joker, while simultaneously crossing its fingers for Jared Leto's version in Suicide Squad. And now, Leto's co-star in the supervillain teamup film Margot Robbie has revealed exciting new details about The Crown Prince of Crime.
Speaking to Daily News (via Uproxx), the Australian actor gushed, "What he's doing with the character is so cool." Leto follows in the (clown) footsteps of Jack Nicholson and Heath Ledger, not to mention Cesar Romero from the camp 60's TV series and Mark Hamill's defining voice performance. We're tempted to call this a braver choice than when he took on the role of a white trash transgender with AIDS in Dallas Buyers Club.
Heath Ledger famously locked himself up in a hotel room to prepare for his anarchic interpretation of the iconic Batman villain and Leto sent Robbie a live rat. "At first it was kind of confronting (to be up close) but now I'm so used to it, I think if I ever saw him out of makeup now I would be really confused," says Robbie, whos Harley Quinn is also not the sanest of individuals. Harley is Joker's girlfriend, although their relationship in Suicide Squad isn't quite clear yet.
What Robbie has to say about Leto's Joker is actually pretty exciting. It really seems like he's pulled out all the stops here. When your co-star says things like this: "Actually, I saw him out of makeup once and I was actually petrified of him. I was too scared to go up and didn't know who that person was, and when he got back into his makeup I was far more comfortable," you get excited.
{{/usCountry}}What Robbie has to say about Leto's Joker is actually pretty exciting. It really seems like he's pulled out all the stops here. When your co-star says things like this: "Actually, I saw him out of makeup once and I was actually petrified of him. I was too scared to go up and didn't know who that person was, and when he got back into his makeup I was far more comfortable," you get excited.
{{/usCountry}}Suicide Squad is directed by David Ayer, whose films are known for their realism and harsh violence. One of his films actually has the word 'harsh' in its title (Harsh Times).
This will be the first time DC's rogues' gallery gets a movie of their own, and that makes for a fresh twist as far as superhero movies go. And Robbie agrees.
"I guess the one common denominator is we're all bad guys, it just makes everything more fun that way," she says. "The scenes are more interesting I feel, when you just don't know how the characters are going to react, especially with Harley, who's absolutely nuts… she's either going to kill you or laugh and give you a hug."
Watch the brilliant Suicide Squad trailer here.