Suicide Squad: Margot Robbie admits Jared Leto scared her so much as the Joker she thought he might 'beat her up'

Robbie's fears were unfounded as Leto proved 'respectful and professional' on set

Jared Leto as iconic psychotic comic book villain the Joker

Suicide Squad actor Margot Robbie has admitted fearing Jared Leto might “beat her up on set” after first hearing about his method acting as the Joker.

The 26-year-old plays the Joker’s accomplice and on-off lover Harley Quinn in David Ayer’s supervillain movie but the “abusive relationship” between their characters left her worried.

Much has been heard about Leto’s method acting, from sending live rats, dead pigs and used condoms to his co-stars to insisting that no-one call him Jared between takes.

“When I first heard that he was method and that we couldn’t refer to him as Jared and things like that, I started to panic a bit because I’m in an abusive relationship with this guy who thinks he is the character,” Robbie told slashfilm.com. “I was worried I’d get beat up on set.”

Fortunately, Leto was “really lovely” and far from abusive to Robbie, who was relieved to find the Oscar winner “respectful, professional and incredible to watch”. “He’s very conscientious on set,” she said. “He’s not completely lost in the character that he’s violent or anything. Between every take he asks if I’m okay.”

Leto and Robbie are joined in the upcoming film by Will Smith as Deadshot, Cara Delevingne as Enchantress, Joel Kinnaman as Rick Flag, Jai Courtney as Boomerang and Viola Davis as Amanda Waller. Ben Affleck is also set to make a cameo appearance as Batman.

The film focuses on a group of villains recruited by a secret government agency to carry out black op missions in exchange for reduced jail sentences and is expected to perform strongly at the global box office.

Suicide Squad arrives in UK cinemas on 5 August.