Film + TV

Viola Davis wanted to pepper spray Jared Leto for his 'Suicide Squad' pranks

by Richard Howard

Jared Leto: actor, rock star and all-round weird dude. While it’s pretty common for artists to be somewhat intense individuals, Leto seems to take it to the next level, whether performing a slightly bizarre imitation of Kurt Cobain or in his dedication to completely immersing himself in his characters using the ‘method acting’ technique.

His dramatic weight fluctuations for certain roles have been well documented, but in order to embody The Joker for the upcoming Suicide Squad film he decided something extra was necessary: being a total asshole.

Leto (or, as I presume he insisted everyone call him for the duration of the shoot, The Joker) started sending the cast gifts such as a live rat, a set of bullets, a dead pig, and (I swear to God) a ‘sticky’ Playboy magazine, used condoms, and anal beads. Leto insisted there was a method (get it?) to the madness:

To be fair, some of his co-stars suggested the pranks may have had the desired effect. Will Smith told an interviewer Leto’s dedication “set the tone,” while Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje said the dead pig “was a good gift because it had the effect of unifying us as a group because then it became us against him.”

However, revered actress Viola Davis ain’t got time for that shit. Talking about the film’s stars getting “to be completely insane because all the characters are insane,” she diplomatically described her thoughts on the atmosphere: “It was a little worrisome. It made you a little bit nervous and I’m pretty tough. You know I got into a few fights when I was growing up… but it scared me a little bit.” As for Leto specifically, since he would never break character on set she described their first post-filming meeting thusly:

Interestingly, it seems that method-acting Leto has a potential-ass-whooping radar that stays active no matter how immersed in his character he might be. In April, a clearly unimpressed Davis told E!News that Leto didn’t personally send her any of his “interesting gifts.” And if he had?

[h/t io9]