Viola Davis has revealed that Jared Leto hired a man to deliver a dead pig to his fellow cast members on the Suicide Squad shoot.
Davis plays a supporting role as Amanda Waller, a government agent who is often put in charge of the ‘suicide squad’, a team of super-villains working for the government in return for their freedom. Leto plays the most famous of these villains, Joker.
In a new interview with Vanity Fair, the actor says, “The henchman came in with a dead pig and plopped it on the table and then he walked out. And that was our introduction to Jared Leto.”
Describing her reaction to the moment, she says, “Now I’m terrified just as a person thinking ‘Is he crazy?’ But the second part was, ‘Oh shit, I’ve got to have my stuff together’. You talk about commitment. And then he sends Margot Robbie a black rat, that was still alive in a box. She screamed, and then she kept it.”
Leto’s unusual behaviour on the set of the antihero film has been well-documented by his co-stars. Adam Beach, who plays assassin Slipknot, said in July 2015 that Leto had also sent Will Smith, who plays marksman Deadshot, bullets inside a letter.
Producer Charles Roven revealed in November 2015 that Leto had requested to be referred to as ‘Mr J’ on set by cast and crew, while in October Will Smith, said “I’ve never actually met Jared Leto”, due to his immersive performance as Joker. “We worked together for six months and we’ve never exchanged a word outside of ‘Action!’ and ‘Cut!’ We’ve never said ‘Hello,’ we’ve never said ‘Good day.’ I’ve only ever spoken to him as Deadshot and him as the Joker.”
Leto has also addressed his role, saying, “I took a pretty deep dive… It was fun, playing those psychological games. But at the same time, it was very painful, like giving birth out of my prick-hole.”
Director David Ayer shot Suicide Squad in Toronto from April to August 2015. Alongside Jared Leto as The Joker and Will Smith as Deadshot, the super-villain movie stars Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn, Jai Courtney as Boomerang, Cara Delevingne as Enchantress, Jay Hernandez as El Diablo, Karen Fukuhara as Katana and Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje as Killer Croc. Warner Bros. has set a release date of August 5, 2016.