A little more than a week remains before the newest version of The Joker appears on the big screen in David Ayer's Suicide Squad. Academy Award winning actor Jared Leto is playing the iconic supervillain this time. The last time the Clown Prince of Crime appeared in a live-action movie was around eight years ago, in Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight.
Heath Ledger portrayed the character in that movie and received numerous posthumous accolades, including the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, for his performance. Jared Leto is very much aware of the excellence of his forerunner's performance.
In a recent interview with Rolling Stone, the 44-year-old actor speaks highly of Ledger's version of The Joker. According to Leto:
Heath did an impeccable, perfect performance as the Joker. It’s one of the best performances ever in cinema. I had met Heath before. I didn’t know him well, but he was a beautiful person.
In the social media, we find a lot of people who believe that after the performance that Heath Ledger delivered as The Joker, no other actor should take on the role ever again. However, Jared Leto seems to disagree with that perception. The actor explains:
I think had it only been portrayed by Heath and it was never a comic book, maybe I would have felt that would be inappropriate. But I thought that given the history, it was OK.
According to Leto, the good thing about having had other actors previously take on the role is that "you know what direction not to head in".
During the interview, Jared Leto also reveals that before he started filming his part in Suicide Squad, he watched a lot of footage of actual violent crimes on YouTube to get a better understanding of someone like The Joker, who is "incredibly comfortable with acts of violence".
A few months ago, Jared Leto said that he had sent gifts like "used condoms" to his Suicide Squad co-stars. David Ayer makes it clear that those were "removed from their packages", but not "actually used". Common, who plays one of The Joker's henchmen, shares that Leto wasn't afraid of being all up in his face, looking like "he's ready to kiss" him! He adds:
You could feel the danger, you could feel the sexuality, the craziness, but there was something still cool about him.
