Dear Jared Leto,
You’re a great actor. In Fight Club, Requiem for a Dream, Dallas Buyers Club and even Panic Room, you gave your all to each role. And I’ll admit, I have a soft spot for 30 Seconds To Mars as a band to listen to when I want to revert to my mopey teenage years. When it was announced that you would be taking the role of the Joker in the film adaptation of Suicide Squad, I kept an open mind. After all, Heath Ledger was known as a teen heart throb when he took the role in The Dark Knight and although he sadly passed away before the film’s release, his portrayal of the anarchic, unbalanced Joker remains iconic to this day – much to the chagrin of some of the hardcore fanbase. I gave you a chance. I wanted you to prove them all wrong.
Even when your costume and makeup were revealed for the first time, I tried to tell myself that it was a different universe to what we were used to so naturally there would be some changes. Sure, you looked like a juggalo, but I had faith. I had faith in you as an actor, Jared Leto.
But now, I want you to stop. Please stop, Jared Leto.
Not a day goes by when I haven’t heard yet another story involving your LOL CRAZY antics on the set. Most recently, he has sent used condoms and anal beads to his fellow cast-mates as well as sending a live rat to Margot Robbie (Harley Quinn) and a dead pig filled with bullets to the rest of the cast. You read that right, used condoms. Aside from the fact that could count as sexual assault, it’s also just fucking gross. I actually retched a little when I read that.
We were barely into 2016 when tales from the set started to ripple through social media and not so surprisingly, a meme was born.
This quote from the Daily Dot sums his character up really well;
By trying to make the Joker look as dangerous and subversive as possible, Jared Leto and David Ayer accidentally rebooted the character as a teenage boy who just found out about Banksy and likes to quote Hunter S. Thompson to girls at parties. He literally has the word “damaged” tattooed on his forehead. So edgy.
Leto claims to be a method actor, and all of these ‘shenanigans’ could well be part of his ‘method’. But if this is supposed to be in-character to the Joker, what does this say of his perception of a dark, complex character? Would the Joker send filthy, jizz-filled rubbers to people? I’d like to think that sort of thing is way beneath him. Would he send a live rat to his Harley? Hell no, he’d just push her out of a window.
DO NOT PUSH MARGOT ROBBIE OUT OF A WINDOW, LETO.
And all these cringey little snippets into the ‘twisted’ mind of the Joker that he spouts… he sounds like a scene guy from the MySpace days. You know the one, his profile had the quote “They laugh at me because I’m different, I laugh at them because they’re all the same” somewhere on his page. He’s not scary. I still see kids like this when I play Magic, and I laugh because if they started a fight with anyone they’d be on their arse before they could even get their cheap knuckledusters out of their checkered Vans backpack that hangs past their knees.
Jared Leto, please stop all this bullshit. If the weight of your acting relies on you pulling stunts like this, then don’t be surprised if people don’t take you seriously. The late Heath Ledger perfected his performance through a journal that is reportedly truly dark and upsetting, and some people say to this day that he got so far into the character that he could never drag himself back out. But he was phenomenal.
I urge you Mr Leto to just get this film done and go away for a little while. AND STOP SENDING DEAD ANIMALS AND OTHER GROSS THINGS TO PEOPLE. Seriously, if you weren’t famous you’d have been arrested.
Yours,
Claire (Mark Hamill is My Joker) Stephenson
Claire is a foul-mouthed British twenty-something who spends most of her time pretending to be an adult. Her nerd status started from an early age with her dad’s love of sci-fi and developed through a love of gaming, reading and horror. As well as volunteering for a charity, Claire writes about her life with borderline personality disorder (BPD) and mental health over at her blog, as well as tweeting nonsense over as @MouthAndSpoons. The dream is to either make it as a successful writer, or go into mental health research. She lives at home with her equally nerdy husband, their dog Lady, cat Pip and a lot of fish.
Some Nerd Girl 
May 21, 2016 at 2:06 pm
FYI – the first quote bit you posted (“Even director David Ayer wasn’t safe…”) is from a satire piece someone wrote based on the Empire magazine article. That satire piece is a work of fiction. It’s completely made up. None of the quotes from Jared or the cast or crew are true.
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May 22, 2016 at 7:53 am
They are indeed, I will get Eve to edit it to note that.
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May 21, 2016 at 2:26 pm
Those quotes are satire.
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May 22, 2016 at 7:53 am
They are, as above I will get Eve to edit it to make that a little clearer.
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May 21, 2016 at 6:33 pm
the quotes you’ve posted are satire. Jared/David Ayer never said that. And do you really believe that he would send ‘used’ condoms to his fellow cast members? They may have been made to look used but definitely not literally used. Jared was being his usual shit-stirring self + unaware that his comments/actions would get taken completely out of context. But you haven’t seen the film, have you? No. Most of us have only seen him for a split second in the released trailers. So why not wait until you’ve seen his performance in full before posting something like this?
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May 22, 2016 at 9:48 am
http://www.avclub.com/article/jared-leto-also-mailed-used-condoms-his-suicide-sq-235260
Why not wait? Because, like yourself and the others in this thread, I am entitled to my opinion.
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May 22, 2016 at 3:45 am
Girl, I just want to let you know that Jared has a highly rabid and emotionally attached female fan base. They will not take this as honest feedback it will be received as hate. You are in danger.
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May 22, 2016 at 9:23 am
Danger? Come on. No one’s leaving the couch.
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May 22, 2016 at 9:47 am
No kidding. I can write about how Margot Robbie’s version of Harley is both disrespectful to the character and to those of us who are mentally ill, and I get nothing but thoughtful debate. I wouldn’t say I’m in danger though – that would suggest they can harm me.
They’re entitled to disagree and not like my content, but I’m sure Mr Leto is big enough to not need such a fanbase defending his honour.
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May 22, 2016 at 7:58 am
http://www.avclub.com/article/jared-leto-also-mailed-used-condoms-his-suicide-sq-235260
That took one Google search. And as I have stated above, the satirical screenshots may not have been presented enough as such and is something I will rectify.
And while you might be correct in the fact that the film isn’t out yet, there has been plenty of behind-the-scenes chatter as well as the fact that Leto is notorious for being a method actor who can take things a little too far. Shit-stirring self? There are people in Hollywood that won’t work with him because of his behaviour. I do not have respect for someone essentially abusing his co-stars for a little more limelight.
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May 22, 2016 at 9:33 am
“Leto is notorious for being a method actor who can take things a little too far”
…. losing weight for DBC? Gaining weight for Chapter 27? Going without sugar and sex for a month for Requiem? Who does that hurt but himself? Who’s anyone to judge “too far” when it doesn’t concern them? Was he actually running guns for Lord of War, or collecting them? Waving them around in Nic Cage’s face? Was he murdering Iranians with a sword to prepare for being Hephaistion? Nah.
I don’t think merely noting that the screencaps are satire is enough. You’ve begun your entire rant on the premise that they are TRUE actual reports from set. They aren’t. Wipe that from your mind and try again. That satire was absolutely brilliant, and as a fan of Jared’s I enjoyed it a lot. What isn’t brilliant is when people whose instinct is to want to hate on him see the satire and think, “oh, this confirms all my biases about Jared Leto! What a jerk!”
Maybe he comes off as a jerk on the red carpet? IDK. Whatever it is that predisposes you to immediately believe any unsavory story about him (especially satire), perhaps take a moment to reflect.
Ah, but that might be asking for a lot.
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May 22, 2016 at 9:43 am
As a fan of Leto’s, you’re going to find fault with whatever I say. You’re doing an awful lot of reading into things that haven’t actually been said – which is a waste, considering my actual written words are right there. I think this debate is done, so good day to you.
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May 25, 2016 at 4:27 am
I like your writing style pretty funny (even if I don’t want to agree with the Leto bashing haha). Have you featured this with any movie websites at all? Great stuff!
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