David Ayer Made The Suicide Squad Cast Punch Each Other In The Face

Just when you think Suicide Squad has run out of crazy, this happens. A Yahoo Movies set report on David Ayer’s film has unearthed yet another sound bite gem from the director. This latest revelation, in which the helmer discusses rehearsals that took place prior to shooting, again makes the DC film sound like a studio-funded fight club.

“The rehearsal was very intense. It wasn’t a normal rehearsal, we’d talk about their lives, their history, and really got them to open up as people to each other. I also had them fight. I had them fight each other. You learn a lot about who a person really is when you punch them in the face. It gets rid of a lot of the actor stuff.”

Is he serious? Or were the actors just ‘play fighting’? The whole point of hiring actors surely is to utilize them for their acting skills – i.e. behaving like other people – as opposed to putting them into potentially dangerous scenarios. Even Joel Kinnaman adds that the cast were all put into “insecure” and “vulnerable” positions.

That’s nothing compared to the behavior Jared Leto exhibited on and off-set. All in the name of ‘being method,’ he mailed what sounds like a laundry list of items you’re most likely to catch an STD from to his fellow castmates. Here’s what Margot Robbie had to say on Leto’s goal of being The Joker 24/7:

“It’s really interesting. Sometimes it can be awkward, sometimes it can be terrifying, most of the time it’s just funny. I’m trying not to laugh, because he says such hilarious things. Jared’s really funny, and terrifying, and just nuts. Absolutely nuts. It’s really interesting to work with someone so method, because I haven’t worked with someone doing that before.”

Performing in character all the time is certainly one way to make sure you don’t let your ‘true self’ ever appear on screen. It’ll be interesting to see how Leto’s dedication and Ayer’s tough love approaches play out in the final product.

What do you think? Has Suicide Squad taken the ‘realer than real’ acting method too far? Or does it add authenticity to the movie? Sound off in the usual place.