Jared Leto Sets The Record Straight On Those Suicide Squad Rat Rumors

Jared Leto is having a pretty good 2021 so far. He delivers a chilling performance in The Little Things, for which he's already been nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role. It's safe to say an Oscar nomination could very well be in the cards in the near future, but for the time being, people can't seem to let go the bizarre behavior Leto allegedly displayed while filming Suicide Squad years ago. 

Prior to the release of the supervillain team-up film, there were numerous headlines about the latest exploits of the method actor — from how he insisted everyone associated with filming call him "Joker" or "Mr. J" to sending a dead pig to the entire cast. Leto seems to have learned a lesson about going overboard with his methody role prep, however, as his Little Things co-star Denzel Washington has made it clear that none of those hijinks occurred during their movie.

Jared Leto himself seems interested in rolling back some of the craziness he's inspired, too. To that end, he recently went on the record to debunk one of the most persistent rumors about his behavior on Suicide Squad: Many people seem to think he sent a dead rat to co-star Margot Robbie, and while he doesn't deny giving her an unsolicited gift, he claims it contained 100% fewer animal parts.

When looking back at articles that came out back in 2016, there seems to have been some miscommunication happening. An article from The Independent mentions a dead rat, while another contemporaneous article from Elle says that Robbie received a live rat from Leto that she kept as a pet. Many other articles concur that it was a "live" rat, and just like a game of telephone, the details likely got changed along the way. Perhaps hearing about a dead pig just made people assume the rat was also dead. We don't know, but some wires probably got crossed along the way. 

Now, Jared Leto is telling his side of the story, and he admits that his antics got away from him. The actor recently sat down with GQ to discuss his career at large, and naturally, his take on Joker in Suicide Squad comes up. He said, "It's also interesting how this stuff all takes on a life of its own. I never gave Margot Robbie a dead rat. That's not true." One might assume he'd state definitively that the rat was alive, but it didn't come up. "I actually gave her a lot of — I found this place in Toronto that had great vegan cinnamon buns, and that was a very common thing."

Regardless of what exactly he did behind the scenes, it didn't stop him from returning to the famous role. Audiences can soon see him reprise his take on Joker in Zack Snyder's Justice League, which is set to land on HBO Max on March 18, 2021.