Jared Leto has a lot to live up to with his upcoming portrayal of Batman's most famous nemesis, the Joker. The Academy Award-winning actor shared an image on Instagram of the two most recent actors who took on the role, Jack Nicholson and the late Heath Ledger, both dressed in costume as their versions of the Joker. Nicholson's Joker is standing over Ledger's with his hands on his shoulders. The text on the meme reads: "Don't worry, Leto will make us proud." Leto captioned the picture with a heart emoji and said he thought it was "clever sweer + fun."
Leto stars as the Joker in next summer's "Suicide Squad." While shooting the film, the actor stayed in character the entire time he was on set.
"There was definitely a period of... detachment," Leto told Empire in October, according to Entertainment Weekly, about his commitment to the role. "I took a pretty deep die. But this was a unique opportunity and I couldn't imagine doing it another way. It was fun, playing those psychological games."
Nicholson played the iconic DC Comics character in 1989's "Batman," while Ledger played the role in 2008's "The Dark Knight," according to Time. Ledger tragically died of a drug overdose before the film was released and earned a posthumous Best Supporting Actor Oscar for the role.
Nicholson described his experience playing the character as emotionally tolling and revealed after Ledger's death that he "warned" the actor about taking on the role, according to the New York Daily News. Some even believe that Ledger's death was connected to his role after the actor revealed he "slept an average of two hours a night" because he "couldn't stop thinking."
"Suicide Squad" hits theatres Aug. 5, 2016.
