Jared Leto loves pushing boundaries on and off set when it comes to the roles he takes (as evidenced most recently by his time as the Joker in the upcoming “Suicide Squad,” where he sent co-star Margot Robbie a live rat).
While this upcoming performance remains to be seen, the Oscar winner and Method actor wowed audiences and the Academy alike when he played a transgender woman named Rayon battling AIDS in “Dallas Buyers Club.” But he was turning in impressive and surprising work in “Requiem for a Dream,” “Mr. Nobody,” and “American Psycho” before then. However, if Leto were a gay actor, he’s not sure he would’ve had the same opportunities, he recently told GQ Style magazine.
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“I definitely don’t think a gay leading man would have the same opportunities as a straight leading man. I don’t think that. Not for a single second,” he said. “I don’t know if that’s offensive or not, but that’s my thought right now. It shouldn’t be that way. I don’t think you’ll have as many opportunities.”
He added that he had a similar feeling about minority actors and their still-limited access to opportunity in Hollywood. “What a word, ‘minority,’ ” he said. “Have we taken that word off the list yet? ‘Cause it should be. Anyway, no, I think that this is still a very conservative business.”
The actor also spoke of taking on the role of the Joker for “Suicide Squad,” hitting theaters Friday, Aug. 5, saying the frequent, historical “interruption” of the villain, from comic book artists on the page to Jack Nicholson and Heath Ledger on the screen freed him up to deliver his own interpretation of the famed character. He also said he considers Ledger’s performance to not only be one of the best of the Joker but of film history period.
Check out the “Suicide Squad” trailer below for a taste of Leto’s Joker.
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