Suicide Squad: Jarred Leto 'in many ways isolated himself' when playing Joker

'The group first wasn’t sure because the AD’s had to call him ‘Mr. J’ to get him to come to the set'

Jared Leto and Margot Robbie in Suicide Squad (Warner Bros/Empire)

Jared Leto has a some big shoes to fill in Suicide Squad, becoming the first actor to play the Joker since in a major film since Heath Ledger’s performance in The Dark Knight for which he was posthumously awarded an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor.

According to one of the producer’s, Leto is taking the role particularly seriously, isolating himself from the rest of the actors and getting people to refer to him as ‘Mr. J.’ to get into character.

Charles Roven told Collider: “Look, you know, it was different, it was fun. The group first wasn’t sure because the AD’s had to call him ‘Mr. J’ to get him to come to the set.

“And he did in many ways isolate himself from the rest of the group, but that’s really what his character was, the purpose of his character in many ways, other than when he was with Harley or trying to get Harley.

“It was very entertaining, it was fuel for a lot of good sport and a lot of laughs, and his isolation bonded the squad, and we wanted the squad bonded.”

Leto is known to be a method actor, his previous antics with the cast of Suicide Squad making headlines earlier this year.

According to Adam Beach, who plays the villain Slipknot in the film, he once sent a rat to Margot Robbie, bullets to Will Smith and a video of himself with a dead hog to the entire cast.

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, which is rumoured to star Leto’s joker in some capacity, opens in cinemas 25 March 2016, while Suicide Squad will reach cinemas 5 August 2016.