Morbius Director On Jared Leto's Scary Dedication To Movie Role
The director of Morbius speaks on how scary it was to watch Jared Leto work on set. Leto stars in the film as the title character, Dr. Michael Morbius, a doctor who seeks a cure for his rare blood disease, only to accidentally turn himself into a bloodthirsty vampire. The film, which is part of Sony's universe of Spider-Man villains that includes the Venom films and the upcoming Kraven the Hunter, will finally be coming to theaters on April 1, 2022, after years of pandemic delays and an additional three-month delay to prevent it from interfering with the record-breaking box office run of Spider-Man: No Way Home.
Leto is an actor who is known for his extremely method approach to his craft. His previous superhero role was a stint as the iconic Batman villain Joker, originally in 2016's Suicide Squad and then later in Zack Snyder's Justice League. Stories from the set of Suicide Squad tell of Leto staying in character at all times, performing Joker-style antics to get himself into character, including giving Margot Robbie a gift box containing a live rat and having a "henchman" drop a dead pig in Viola Davis' dressing room.
While speaking with Variety, director Daniel Espinosa spoke about what it was like to work with Jared Leto when he was so fully committed to such an intense character. Espinosa is no stranger to intensity, having directed the serial killer thriller Child 44 - still, he says that sometimes on set he "got scared for Jared." The fear was apparently reciprocal because in one moment where the character shatters glass, Espinosa "could sense the crew backed off." Read the full quote below:
I got scared for Jared. He really commits. You have to watch out for it. [In a scene where he shatters glass,] I could sense the crew backed off. It was a bit spooky.
The rest of the cast around Leto's Morbius includes Matt Smith, Adria Arjona, Jared Harris, Al Madrigal, and Tyrese Gibson. The film will also feature Michael Keaton reprising the role of Adrian Toomes (a.k.a. Vulture). This will be the first time that a character from the MCU (Keaton's Vulture was introduced in 2017's Spider-Man: Homecoming) has played a major part in a project from the sony branch of the Spider-verse.
Critics and audiences generally agree that Leto's method acting shenanigans achieve his desired intensity in whatever role he takes. However, they have not reached a consensus on how comforting it is to know the way he scares his coworkers, or whether or not the results are worth watching. While there is a vocal group that supports his performance as Joker, there are much fewer extolling the virtues of his work in films like the Oscar-nominated House of Gucci. It remains to be seen how people receive Morbius, but it sounds like it's gearing up to be just as divisive as any of his recent films.
Source: Variety