Jared Leto Allegedly Tried To Shut Down Todd Phillips’ New ‘Joker’ Movie
Leto played the Joker in 2016's 'Suicide Squad'.
Jared Leto, who played the Joker in the widely panned Suicide Squad, apparently tried to get Todd Phillips’ new Joker movie shut down.
Leto was allegedly “alienated and upset” by the news of the new Joker flick, starring Joaquin Phoenix in the title role.
The Hollywood Reporter have sources that say that Leto tried to get his then-music manager, Irving Azoff, to call the head of Warner Bros’ parent company to get the movie canned.
A source from Leto’s side denied the rumour.
I could watch a whole documentary about the bizarre one-year window of Jared Leto superstardom that led to all this nonsense (and all for a ten minute role in a bad movie!) https://t.co/n9WB1ljkov pic.twitter.com/wl7waMRfbX
— David Sims (@davidlsims) October 19, 2019
Leto also is believed to have complained to his then-agents. They parted ways, partly because, as sources told The Hollywood Reporter, Leto believed that he should have been told about Phillips’ Joker sooner, his agents should have gotten the film killed, and should have barracked for him getting his own comic flick. He apparently felt that, as an Oscar winner for Dallas Buyers Club, he wasn’t being treated well enough.
A Leto source said that the Joker movie had nothing to do with his change in agents.
The industry outlet previously wrote that Leto felt thwarted, as he may have been promised his own standalone Joker movie.
Leto’s role in Suicide Squad ended up cut to about ten minutes of screentime, the actor telling media in 2016 that he hopes his deleted scenes will at some point “see the light of day”.
As part of his ‘method’ way of getting into character, he also reportedly sent a dead hog to the cast; a live rat to Margot Robbie, who played Harley Quinn; and bullets to Will Smith, who played Deadshot, bullets.
A source told The Hollywood Reporter that Phoenix’s turn as the Joker probably means that Leto won’t be able to play the part again: “How do you play the Joker you established following [Phoenix]? It kind of ends his Joker run.”
Leto is not returning as the Joker in the Harley Quinn standalone film, Birds of Prey.
Don’t worry about Jared Leto though. He seems to be doing just fine:
— JARED LETO (@JaredLeto) October 13, 2019