TAKING ‘THE JOKER’ IN “A COMPLETELY NEW DIRECTION”

TAKING ‘THE JOKER’ IN “A COMPLETELY NEW DIRECTION”

Jared Leto talks here in detail about reinventing and redefining The Joker in David Ayer's Suicide Squad, while Margot Robbie discusses the lengths she went to in order to create Harley Quinn.

It's been obvious since the release of the first official image that Jared Leto's Joker would be very different to previous versions, and while we've now seen a fair bit of the Clown Prince of Crime in action, we still know pretty much nothing about what kind of role he'll play in Suicide Squad. Asked if we'll get to see his origin story in the movie, the actor teased, "I don’t think I’m allowed to talk about that so much. But we walked in a completely new direction.

I think we knew that we had to do that. It was important to do that. When the Joker has been done and done so well, it gives you a bit of an indication of where you shouldn’t go. There’s a bit of a map there. That’s the good part about it."

"It’s quite an honor," Leto continued when asked about the responsibility which comes with delivering a new take on such an iconic and well-loved character. "Joker has been written about in pop culture for 75 years. I’m just the latest in the long list of people who have redefined and reinvented this character; the actors, the voice actors, the television series, the writers, the artists and the fans. People have taken the Joker and reinvented and redefined for 75 years. It is really special to be asked to do that." Those tattoos definitely point to this take being a pretty major reinvention, but it does seem like we'll get a mixture of that and classic Joker.

Of course, another character we'll get to see "redefined" in Suicide Squad is Harley Quinn, though she will be making her big screen debut courtesy of Margot Robbie. "I did a lot of research on mental illness and co-dependency," the Australian actress said of her approach to playing The Joker's sidekick. "I was trying to access a way in to understanding why she’s so in love with the Joker. I kind of decided that she’s co-dependent on him. Now that I’ve done the research, I realize that that’s more of an addiction than an illness. You see many sides of her. Sometimes she’s really funny. Sometimes she’s really mean. She just enjoys everything she does. Whether she’s doing something good or bad, she’ll have an equal amount of enjoyment out of it. She’s not always the most likable character." Which are these villains are you most excited to see?

Article gotten from comicbookmovie.com