Viola Davis Reveals Margot Robbie’s Surprising Reaction to Getting Rat From Jared Leto on Suicide Squad Set

The Suicide Squad is finally hitting theatres and HBO Max next month and will see the return of some characters from the 2016 Suicide Squad, including Margot Robbie‘s Harley Quinn and Viola Davis‘ Amanda Waller. While director James Gunn has made it clear that you don’t need to see the 2016 movie to understand his new one, the first film’s cast are still sharing some stories from their original time together. In fact, Vogue recently profiled Robbie and featured a Suicide Squad set story from Davis.

According to Davis, the Suicide Squad cast gathered around after Robbie received a box from Jared Leto, who played the Joker in the movie. Unbeknownst to Robbie, Leto was playing a prank and the box had a rat in it. Davis tried to warn her co-star but was too late. “I was saying loudly, ‘Don’t open the box!’ I was halfway out the door when she opened the box,” Davis recalled, “and saw the biggest black rat you could imagine. Then… she cooed at it. No fear. Open. Receptive. Full of joy.”

Considering Leto went method for the role, we’re not surprised to hear he would gift his onscreen romantic partner a rat. That certainly sounds like something Joker would do. Back when the movie was filming, it was rumored that Leto had gifted Robbie a dead rat, but those claims have since been cleared up.

“I never gave Margot Robbie a dead rat. That’s not true,” Leto clarified in an interview with GQ. Leto explained that he actually gave her food. “I found this place in Toronto that had great vegan cinnamon buns, and that was a very common thing.” Explaining his gifts to the cast in 2016, Leto told E!, “I did a lot of things to create a dynamic to create an element of surprise, a spontaneity and to really break down any kind of walls that may be there. The Joker is somebody who doesn’t really respect things like personal space or boundaries.”

While Leto is not expected to reprise his role in The Suicide Squad alongside Robbie and Davis, it will feature the return of Jai Courtney as Captain Boomerang and Joel Kinnaman as Rick Flagg. Franchise newcomers will include Idris Elba as Bloodsport, David Dastmalchian as Polka-Dot Man, Steve Agee as John Economos and King Shark (on-set reference), Sylvester Stallone as the voice of King Shark, Daniela Melchior as Ratcatcher 2, John Cena as Peacemaker, Michael Rooker as Savant, Flula Borg as Javelin, Peter Capaldi as Thinker, Nathan Fillion as TDK, Mayling Ng as Mongal, Pete Davidson as Blackguard, Sean Gunn as Weasel, Joaquin Cosio as General Mateo Suarez, Juan Diego Botto as Luna, Storm Reid as Tyla, Alice Braga as Sol Soria, Jennifer Holland as Emilia Harcourt, and Taika Waititi in an unknown role.

The Suicide Squad is set to be released both in theaters and on HBO Max on August 6th.