Suicide Squad despite some critical flak is a box office smash with one of the biggest August openings in years, and one of the highlights is 30 Seconds to Mars frontman Jared Leto portraying the Joker. He’s the first to do so on film since the iconic performance of Heath Ledger in ‘the Dark Knight’. So meeting this heavy task of being the new Clown Prince of Crime meant digging deeper for Leto who chatted with DC Comic insiders and found inspiration in a surprising yet effective source: rock legend David Bowie.
Speaking with NME in promoting the super-villain film, Leto said “We discussed David Bowie a bit — not necessarily the music of David, but his class, his elegance, his timelessness.”
Bowie is well established as one of the more influential rock stars of all time, with a penchant for being a charismatic outsider with flashy outfits and ability to change art in weird directions. Those characteristics though they don’t inhibit the unbridled evil of the Joker, show off the characters peculiar nature. Oddly this connection makes sense.
There has been widespread reports of Leto getting very into the role of the Joker on the set of the ‘Suicide Squad’. Including sending a live rat in a box to co-star Margot Robbie, yep a rat. That’s something the Joker would do, so he did it. The former Jordan Catelano continued this playfullness when he pulled a similar prank when he appeared on ‘The Tonight Show’, you can see that here.
Oh and if he was not busy enough being one of the biggest super-villains in movies, he’s supposedly prepping a new album from 30STM.
