Morbius‘ director confirms a ridiculous set story involving lead actor Jared Leto. Also known as the lead vocalist and multi-instrumentalist for the band Thirty Seconds to Mars, Leto is famous for a commitment to method acting in his films. One of Leto’s most popular and scrutinized roles has been The Joker in 2016’s Suicide Squad, which he reprised for a scene in Zack Snyder’s Justice League last year. He has also won an Academy Award for his performance as a transgender woman in Dallas Buyers Club. This past year, Leto took an unrecognizable turn as Paolo Gucci in House of Gucci.

Leto’s most recent project is the Spider-Man spinoff movie, Morbius. Despite receiving some of the worst reviews of any Marvel movie, Morbius still hit its box office projections with a decent $39 million domestic haul in its opening weekend. Directed by Daniel Espinosa and written by Matt Sazama and Burk Sharpless, Morbius stars Leto as the titular scientist who, through his attempts to cure himself from a rare blood disease, accidentally inflicts himself with a form of vampirism. While critics have innumerable issues with Morbius as a movie, Leto’s performance as the Living Vampire has been one bright spot.

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During a recent interview with Uproxx discussing all things Morbius, Espinosa was asked to confirm or deny an interesting set story involving Leto. The story alleges that the actor was so committed to staying in character that he would use crutches to slowly limp around everywhere on set, even when he had to use the bathroom. But when the breaks became too time-consuming, a deal was struck for Leto to be pushed in a wheelchair instead. Espinosa confirmed the somewhat shocking story is true and went on to speak about Leto’s intense process:

“Because I think that what Jared thinks, what Jared believes, is that somehow the pain of those movements, even when he was playing normal Michael Morbius, he needed, because he’s been having this pain his whole life. Even though, as he’s alive and strong, it has to be a difference. Hey, man, it’s people’s processes. All of the actors believe in processes. And you, as director, you support whatever makes it as good as you can be.”

Leto’s unusual onset behavior is attributed to a process known as method acting, which was developed by the Russian actor Konstantin Stanislavski and popularized by actors like Daniel-Day Lewis. The practice requires performers to remain in character throughout a film’s entire shooting schedule, even when the cameras aren’t rolling. Similar to Leto on Morbius, Day-Lewis remained in a wheelchair for 1989’s My Left Foot while portraying Christy Brown, a man with cerebral palsy who could only move his left foot, which required crew to feed him and sometimes carry him around on set.

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Similar to past actors who pursue the process, Leto’s dedication to method acting has occasionally been controversial. Leto was accused of taking things too far when he gifted co-star Margot Robbie a live rat on Suicide Squad (as well as other inappropriate items to other co-stars), an anecdote that was subject to some exaggeration. However, Leto has since said that his strange gifts to his Suicide Squad co-stars were all jokes meant in good fun, and none of his cast mates were offended. Those who have actually worked with Leto, such as Espinosa, have done their best to dispel the notion that the Morbius star is difficult to work with, and have expressed immense respect for the actor’s commitment to his roles.

Source: Uproxx

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Adam Bentz
(1112 Articles Published)

Adam Bentz is a movie and TV news writer for Screen Rant. From a young age, Adam has been interested in a wide range of movies and television, but it was talented auteurs like Quentin Tarantino, Paul Thomas Anderson, and Aaron Sorkin who ultimately sparked his interest in the craft. Motivated by his love for the screen, Adam studied creative writing with a concentration in screenwriting at Southern New Hampshire University.

After graduating, Adam interned as a writer with The Borgen Project, a nonprofit organization working to end extreme poverty. Other than writing for Screen Rant, Adam reviews films on his website adambentz.wordpress.com

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