Jared Leto Is Walking On Hallowed Ground With Joker Role

Jared Leto never actually arrived onto the set of David Ayer's Suicide Squad movie, though someone dressed as The Joker that resembled the Oscar-winning actor did. That's because Leto boldly chose to use a method approach with his psychotic role — never wanting the cast and crew to see him as anything else but The Clown Prince of Crime. Sure, at times, it made the set uncomfortable, but isn't that exactly what The Joker would do? He feeds on stirring the pot, creating an unsettling feeling that won't easily dissipate.

We're still a month away from finding out if Leto's performance is on par or surpasses the previous iterations of The Joker; however, Leto has the added pressure of following the late, great Heath Ledger, who posthumously won an Oscar for his work in Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight (2008). It's something Leto is well aware of.

"You're kind of walking upon hallowed ground, and it deserves the very best that you can do," Leto told Entertainment Weekly. "It takes over your life and that's what I needed to do for myself."

Aside from Leger, that hallowed ground also includes Jack Nicholson and Cesar Romero, as well as the brilliant voice work of Mark Hamill.

Leto's director got a front-row seat to actor's dramatic transformation and even he got creeped out. "As an actor, he's flinging himself into the abyss on that one," said Ayer. "And he was scary on set. He was intimidating. He'd show up and it was like, 'Dude, you are f—-ing creepy.'"

Part of becoming The Joker was that Leto sent creepy gifts to his co-stars. His final gift included a box of porn magazines, a dildo, a switchblade, and a used condom.

"The wrap gift was his fun way of getting back at all of us," said co-star Karen Fukuhara, who plays Katana. "I wanted to keep everything."

It feels good to be bad… Assemble a team of the world's most dangerous, incarcerated Super Villains, provide them with the most powerful arsenal at the government's disposal, and send them off on a mission to defeat an enigmatic, insuperable entity. U.S. intelligence officer Amanda Waller has determined only a secretly convened group of disparate, despicable individuals with next to nothing to lose will do. However, once they realize they weren't picked to succeed but chosen for their patent culpability when they inevitably fail, will the Suicide Squad resolve to die trying, or decide it's every man for himself?

Written and directed by David Ayer based on the characters from DC Comics, the film stars Will Smith ("Ali"), Jared Leto ("Dallas Buyers Club"), Margot Robbie ("The Wolf of Wall Street"), Joel Kinnaman ("RoboCop") and Viola Davis ("The Help"). The cast also includes Jai Courtney ("Insurgent"), Jay Hernandez ("Takers"), Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje ("Thor: The Dark World"), Ike Barinholtz ("Neighbors"), Scott Eastwood ("Fury"), Cara Delevingne ("Paper Towns"), Adam Beach ("Cowboys & Aliens"), and Karen Fukuhara in her feature film debut. It is produced by Charles Roven and Richard Suckle, with Zack Snyder, Deborah Snyder, Colin Wilson and Geoff Johns serving as executive producers.

Suicide Squad opens worldwide in 3D, and in 2D, and in select IMAX 3D theaters beginning August 5, 2016.