Jared Leto compares his Joker to actors who have taken on Hamlet

Warner Bros.

One of the big reasons for the excitement surrounding the release of Warner Bros.’ next comic-book movie, “Suicide Squad” (opening August 5), is seeing Oscar winner Jared Leto play the Joker.

The buildup to him playing the clown prince of crime has been massive, from stories of the actor sending his castmates disturbing gifts to even director David Ayer being “freaked out” by him on-set.

Leto admits to Entertainment Weekly that he hasn’t been able to articulate his approach to playing the character, but he seems to have had some deep thoughts about it anyway.

“You just knew you had to do something different. You had to make it your own," he said. "That happens all the time. Whether you’re a composer working on a piece of music that was written a century ago, or you’re an actor on stage, reinterpreting a play, it’s very common these days. Directors take on great works of cinema, actors reinterpret roles, that’s been going on for a great deal of time. From 'Scarface' to 'Hamlet.' In some ways it’s really interesting to reinterpret, redefine.”

Leto is referring to the already memorable performances of the character by the likes of Jack Nicholson in Tim Burton’s “Batman” and Heath Ledger in Christopher Nolan’s “The Dark Knight,” which earned the late actor an Oscar.

From the small glimpse of Leto’s Joker that we’ve seen in trailers, it certainly looks like he’s putting a different spin on the character.

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