Jared Leto ‘terrified’ to step into Heath Ledger’s Joker role: ‘I felt a responsibility’

Jared Leto has admitted to being both ‘terrified’ and ‘excited’ about playing the role of The Joker.

The Oscar-winning star, who plays the comic book villain in the forthcoming Suicide Squad, says that he felt a ‘responsibility’ to all actors who has portrayed the character, including the late Heath Ledger.

Speaking on radio station Nova 969, he said: “When I got asked to play The Joker I was both terrified and excited and knew that it was the opportunity of a lifetime.”

The 44-year-old isn’t worried that he will be compared to the late Ledger, who died soon after shooting The Dark Knight in 2008, but felt a ‘pressure’.

“For me I wasn’t so concerned with [being compared to Heath], I think I just felt a pressure to deliver because people are so passionate about this,” he said.

“Other actor’s like Heath and Jack [Nicholson] and voice actors like Mark Hamill and Cesar Romero, from the original TV show, they created such iconic characters, they had such beautiful performances.

“I think I felt a responsibility to all of them to do the very best I could.”

Speaking about taking over the role last played by Ledger last month, Leto told Rolling Stone magazine:

“Heath did an impeccable, perfect performance as the Joker. It’s one of the best performances ever in cinema....he was a beautiful person.

“I think had it [The Joker] only been portrayed by Heath and it was never a comic book, maybe I would have felt that would be inappropriate, but I thought that given the history, it was OK.”

Ledger posthumously won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his role in the Dark Knight as well as the Golden Globe and the BAFTA.

Suicide Squad is released in the UK on August 5.

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