According to fellow cast members, Jared Leto (‘Dallas Buyers Club’,’Mr. Nobody’) is living and breathing his take on The Joker for ‘Suicide Squad‘!

This is probably a good thing as he has some pretty big shoes to fill after Heath Ledger ramped up the darkness and insanity in his take on the character. If Leto’s take can match the quality of Ledger’s who also reportedly lived as the character on and off screen we may just be in for something special. Not only is he always in character while on set but even when away Leto has been thoughtful on how he interacts with his fellow actors as you’ll see below.

Jai Courtney who is playing Captain Boomerang recently spoke about Leto’s acting on set and off camera. When asked how Leto was using his method acting the response was:

“I don’t know how you measure that these days. I haven’t seen him, since we started working, out-of-character, let’s put it that way.”

That seems to be in line with what Scott Eastwood had previously said about Leto never breaking character. So if he’s being The Joker both on and off camera, how does that go for the long period of time he isn’t on set? Well, it seems that Leto truly goes all out as Adam Beach who isplaying Slipnot shares that:

“He sent [Margot Robbie] a nice love letter with a black box with a rat in it—a live rat. It was beautiful. Then he sent bullets to Will [Smith] with a letter.”

Not only were individuals gifts given, but he gave one to the entire cast in the form of a video that came with a dead hog.

“Basically, what he said was, ‘Guys, I can’t be there but I want you to know I’m doing my work as hard as you guys. The video he showed is in character. It blew our minds away. Then we realized that day, this is real. He encompasses this beautiful man and he shows it in, ‘Hello, how are you?,’ but in an instant, he goes to psychotic behavior where you’re in fear but you love him because he has both of those genuine sides.”

I actually have to admit that Beach’s explanation on how Leto is acting has me more interested in his take on The Joker than anything else had so far. Obviously Ledger proved that you can’t judge a book by his cover as most of us didn’t expect much from his performance and to many he has become the iconic cinematic take on Batman’s nemesis.

Are you looking forward to Leto as The Joker in ‘Suicide Squad’? Do you think we may be in for a new take on the Clown Prince of Crime that could once again redefine our expectations for the character? Share your thoughts below!

‘Suicide Squad’ will be released on August 5th, 2016 and stars: Cara Delevingne, Jai Courtney, Jared Leto, Joel Kinnaman, Margot Robbie, Viola Davis, and Will Smith.

Sources: E Online, Cinema Blend