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Why Viola Davis Wanted to Pepper Spray Jared Leto

The How to Get Away With Murder star says "everyone is completely insane" in Suicide Squad

By Marc Malkin Jun 21, 2016 1:50 PMTags
Watch: "Suicide Squad" Star Viola Davis Says "Everyone Is Insane"

Jared Leto may want to keep a safe distance from his Suicide Squad co-stars.

It was previously believed that Viola Davis, who plays Amanda Waller in the supervillains superhero flick, didn't receive any of Leto's infamous gifts he sent to the cast during filming.

Turns out she did receive a box of bullets.

"It was a little worrisome," Davis said. "It made you a little bit nervous and I'm pretty tough. You know I got into a few fights when I was growing up...but it scared me a little bit."

As you probably have heard by now, Leto got so into playing The Joker that his gift giving also included a live rat, a dead hog, used condoms, anal beads and porn magazines.

Davis finally came face-to-face with the Oscar winner out of character after Suicide Squad wrapped at a Glamour magazine event. "Before that I was only introduced to The Joker...and I almost had my pepper spray out. You know, 'You remember that bullet you sent me?'" Davis said.

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But the wackiness wasn't reserved solely for Leto. "Every single person in it gets to be completely insane because all the characters are insane," Davis said. "They're bad guys. We're all bad guys."

The David Ayer-directed movie's cast also includes Will Smith, Margot Robbie, Cara Delevingne, Common, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbake, Jai Courtney and Joel Kinnaman.

She admitted, "It got so crazy that there were times during filming that I had heart palpitations--not only heart palpitations but at one point I said, 'Did I suffer from hearing loss?'"

Leto explained his method acting when I chatted with him at CinemaCon earlier this year. "I did a lot of things to create a dynamic to create an element of surprise, a spontaneity and to really break down any kind of walls that may be there," he said. "The Joker is somebody who doesn't really respect things like personal space or boundaries."

We could only imagine what the gift bag at the movie's premiere will be filled with.

Suicide Squad is in theaters on Aug. 5.

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