Jared Leto went completely method for his role as the Joker in "Suicide Squad" and that included menacing the cast on and off set. He even had a pig slaughtered to terrorize his co-star Viola Davis, who plays U.S. intelligence officer Amanda Waller.
"The Joker, he did some bad things, Jared Leto did," Davis told Vanity Fair. "He gave some really horrific gifts. He had a henchman who would come into the rehearsal room, and the henchman came in with a dead pig and plopped it on the table, and then he walked out. And that was our introduction into Jared Leto."
The "How to Get Away with Murder" star also recalled the live black rat that Leto sent to Margot Robbie (Harley Quinn in the movie). Robbie screamed when she opened the box, but ended up keeping the rodent as a pet.
"Now I'm terrified as a person thinking, 'Is he crazy?' But the second part was, 'Oh s-t, I gotta have my stuff together. You talk about commitment," Davis said.
More than any other "Suicide Squad" cast member, Leto must separate himself in the portrayal of the Joker from other expert turns as the famous Batman supervillain. Jack Nicholson brought more comedy to the role in 1989's "Batman" and Heath Ledger's character went absolutely psychotic in 2008's "The Dark Knight."
The Oscar-winning actor acknowledged his complete transformation to play the Joker in an interview last year with Empire Magazine.
"There was definitely a period of...detachment. I took a pretty deep dive," he told the magazine (via Entertainment Weekly). "But this was a unique opportunity and I couldn't imagine doing it another way. It was fun, playing those psychological games."
"Suicide Squad" premieres in theaters on Aug. 5.
