Suicide Squad is distinguishing itself from other superhero movies by featuring a cast consisting primarily of villains. Understandably, this means that nearly every actor in the production will be embracing their inner bad guy to varying degrees. While these will no doubt result in unique (and eccentric) performances, director David Ayer is also keen on his performers not delving too deep into darkness, which is why the production has a therapist on set to make sure no one falls down the rabbit hole.
Adam Beach, who plays Squad member Slipknot, told E! Online that Ayer is looking for his actors to go as method for possible while playing their respective characters. According to Beach:
David Ayer is about realism. So if your character is tormented, he wants you to torment yourself. He wants the real thing.
However, just because Ayer wants his actors to embrace their inner villain during production doesn’t mean he wants them holding onto that baggage after the cameras shut off. That’s why Ayer hired the therapist (or as Beach calls them, a "life coach") to make sure fiction doesn’t become reality and the actors don’t suddenly disappear. Beach said:
We kind of have like a therapist on board if you fall off the wagon and really are villainous. There’s a friend of [Ayer's] that's very unique in making sure we have our ground.
Suicide Squad’s lineup of criminal operatives range from the mercenary Deadshot to the deranged Enchantress, but regardless of character, it’s good to know Ayer is taking steps to ensure his actors are still of sound mind once shooting is finished. I imagine this will especially come in handy for the people who are characters with broken sanity, and if there’s one person who will definitely want to take advantage of these therapy sessions, it’s Jared Leto.
As the latest actor to play Joker on the big screen, the 30 Seconds to Mars singer is no doubt tapping into a dark place to effectively portray the Clown Prince of Crime. His costar Jai Courtney recently commented on how he has yet to see Leto out of character even after scenes are finished filming. Then there was also how Leto sent unusual gifts to his Suicide Squad cast-mates while he was away from the set. These "gifts" included bullets for Will Smith, a love letter for Margot Robbie that came with a live rat, and the video showcasing his psychopathic behavior for the entire cast the included a dead hog. We’ve already gotten a sense of how bat-shit crazy this iteration of Joker will be from the official still released in March, and once we see footage or him in a teaser trailer or elsewhere, we’ll finally get a better understanding of what his costars are talking about.
Suicide Squad will hit theaters on August 5, 2016.
