Jared Leto’s take on The Joker is going to one of the more interesting things to watch when Suicide Squad hits theaters in 2016. Based on the official promo materials that have been released so far, Leto’s version is going to feature a certain level of crazy that we haven’t seen from the character in years. With that in mind, Suicide Squad star Ike Barinholtz recently sat down with Howard Stern and revealed just how insane Leto’s on-set activities were.
For starters, Barinholtz echoed earlier reports about how Leto managed to remain in character even when the cameras were not rolling. The actor, who is thought to be playing a member of a SWAT team in the film, added that Leto “[kept] to himself” while production was underway.
Barinholtz also told an interesting story that illustrates just how crazy things got between Leto and his co-stars. In particular, Leto sent some of his co-stars interesting presents while the cast was rehearsing and getting ready for production to begin.
“He did this crazy thing…all the actors were rehearsing… so we’re rehearsing, and this actor who plays the Joker’s kind of lieutenant, walks in and he goes, ‘Present for Ms. Quinn,’” Barinholtz revealed in the interview. “Hands her a box. She opens the box, and a live, giant black rat pops out. And we’re like, ‘What the f–k is going on? That’s crazy!”
The strange and outrageous gifts did not stop there. Apparently, Leto also had a larger present for the rest of the cast and crew.
“So then 20 minutes later we’re still rehearsing and the actor comes back in and goes, ‘This is for the squad from Mr. J,’ and he f-cking throws a pig on the table. A dead pig!” Barinholtz shared. “As he puts this pig on the table, all these bullets start to come out of it.”
Apart from the live rat and pig head, Barinholtz also revealed that the movie will feature a bit of a romance involving Leto’s character and Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn.
“His character is in love with Margot Robbie — she’s Harley Quinn,” he told Stern.
While Barinholtz did not reveal any major details concerning the relationship between The Joker and Quinn, the two characters have a past together in the comics. That being said, it isn’t clear how closely the movie will follow the events that unfolded in the comics. With Will Smith’s Deadshot expected to enter the mix, it could be interesting to see what happens between the two.
Meanwhile, as far as Robbie is concerned, Barinholtz had a few nice things to say about his co-star. According to Comic Book , the actor described Robbie as a blast to be around, especially off-set.
“She has a tattoo gun, so [the cast would] get drunk and [she’d be] like, ‘Alright, let me give you a tattoo,’” he stated. “And one of the guys she tattooed, she made a big typo. And he was like, ‘Oh it’s cool, don’t worry about it!’”
Although Barinholtz was a little vague when it came to revealing too many spoilers, Venture Capital Post is reporting that producers are getting ready to unleash a second trailer for the movie. Hopefully, the new trailer will provide a little more clarity on what fans can expect to unfold.
Apart from Leto, Barinholtz, and Robbie, the movie is set to star Will Smith (Deadshot), Jai Courtney (Boomerang), Joel Kinnaman (Rick Flag), Cara Delevigne (Enchantress), Viola Davis (Amanda Waller), Adam Beach (Slipknot), Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje (Killer Croc), Karen Fukahara (Katana), and Jay Hernandez (Diablo).
Suicide Squad is set to open in theaters on August 5, 2016.
[Image via Director David Ayer/Twitter]