‘Suicide Squad’ Star Jared Leto Reveals David Bowie’s Part In Creating Joker
While critics and fans fight it out over the value of Suicide Squad as a film, the movie’s actors are stepping up to talk more about their roles in the hopes that more positive attention will sway the critics’ opinions. For Jared Leto, this means dishing on the many facets of his Joker, giving the public an idea about how he styled his performance to create an entirely new Joker for a new generation of fans. Ironically, Leto reveals that a multi-generational rock star had one of the greatest impacts on how the Suicide Squad actor brought his character to life.
Suicide Squad Star Jared Leto On David Bowie’s Joker Influence
Even before Suicide Squad debuted in theaters, there have been many variations of the famous DC Comics villain and Batman’s nemesis, Joker, and for each adaptation of the Joker, there have been countless inspirations and influences. As Comic Book Resources reveals, this can be no less true for Jared Leto’s version of the Joker, though it may be surprising to learn that Jared cites classic rock star David Bowie as a great inspiration for Gotham’s evil jester. In discussing his portrayal of the Joker, Leto says David Bowie, who passed away earlier this year, served as a model in developing the overall character of the Suicide Squad villain.
“I spoke to a writer and we discussed David Bowie a bit, not necessarily the music of David, but his class, his elegance, his timelessness,” Leto said. “I don’t wanna say who the guy was, but he’s a famous writer in the world of DC. Bowie was definitely one of the people we spoke about.”
It’s not surprising that Jared Leto would look to a rock icon for inspiration, considering his own endeavors in the rock music industry. Along with older brother Shannon Leto and Tomo Mili?evi?, Jared formed Thirty Seconds to Mars.
“I think David Bowie is probably an inspiration for almost anything you could do creatively,” the Suicide Squad star says, revealing a deep admiration for the late musician.
Speaking to the Joker’s future in the DC Entertainment franchise, Leto says he hopes to reprise his Suicide Squad role in more films.
“I think that would be great to dive in deeper to the Joker and expand his story and learn a bit more about this sick and twisted — but lovely — strange man.”
Jared Leto Says Poor Reviews Aren’t His Fault
It’s only been a day or two since Suicide Squad debuted in theaters, but it didn’t take critics half that time to shred the film with poor reviews, trashing everything from the actors’ performances to the film’s cinematography. Jared gets to the heart of his feelings about the poor reviews, according to Metro, as he says he feels unaffected by the Suicide Squad criticism. When asked why he feels unbothered, Leto says much of the Joker scenes were cut from the final version of the film, eliminating much of his presence in the movie.
“I’ve heard that there’s been a very… mixed response,” says Leto. “It’s easy to hear that, but I haven’t seen the film and I’m in the film so little that that really has not very much to do with me and what I’m doing now and talking and sharing the film.”
While his scenes have been removed, Jared is hopeful that those cut Suicide Squad scenes have not been lost forever. Indeed, in an age when extra features are just as important to DVD and Blu-ray consumers as the feature film itself, it seems unlikely that those scenes would have been summarily trashed. In fact, a longer director’s cut may even include some of those lost Joker scenes.
Mr. Leto adds that he has hopes of reprising his Joker role and even hints that the Joker may star in his own DC Entertainment film, if fan response is high enough for his Suicide Squad performance.
“I think if they respond to this Joker and they have a good time with this version of the Joker then I can imagine him coming back,” says Jared. “But if not, I’ll just go live in a f***ing cave somewhere.”
[Image by Warner Bros.]
