--- title: Jared Leto Suicide Squad Joker: Jack Nicholson, Heath Ledger description: Leto has a few people in mind who he wants to impress with his portrayal of the iconic DC villain. canonical: https://time.com/4130685/jared-leto-joker-suicide-squad-jack-nicholson-heath-ledger/ author: Megan McCluskey article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-12-01T16:52:28.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:27:14.650Z og:title: Jared Leto Hopes Heath Ledger Would Have Been Proud of His Joker og:description: And Jack Nicholson, too og:url: https://time.com/4130685/jared-leto-joker-suicide-squad-jack-nicholson-heath-ledger/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4b70d280d0ff3ae9/698873395f570ff295b1e966/jared-leto.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: 2015 WSJ. Magazine Innovator Awards og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Jared Leto Hopes Heath Ledger Would Have Been Proud of His Joker twitter:description: And Jack Nicholson, too twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4b70d280d0ff3ae9/698873395f570ff295b1e966/jared-leto.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Jared Leto Hopes Heath Ledger Would Have Been Proud of His Joker  by [Megan McCluskey](https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer Dec 1, 2015 4:52 PM UTC  Jared Leto at Museum of Modern Art in New York City on Nov. 4, 2015. Jared Leto at Museum of Modern Art in New York City on Nov. 4, 2015.Grant Lamos IV—Getty Images  by [Megan McCluskey](https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer Dec 1, 2015 4:52 PM UTC Jared Leto will take his place among the ranks of actors who have played [The Joker](http://time.com/3835534/jared-leto-joker-suicide-squad/) when _Suicide Squad_ hits theaters next August, and the star has a few people in mind who he wants to impress with his portrayal of the iconic DC villain. Leto posted a meme on [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/jaredleto/) on Monday that features two previous Joker actors, [Jack Nicholson](http://time.com/3837362/jack-nicholson-joker-suicide-squad-jared-leto/) and Heath Ledger, superimposed with the words, “Don’t worry Leto will makes us proud.” Nicholson and Ledger brought the crazed super-villain to life in 1989’s _Batman_ and 2008’s _The Dark Knight_, respectively, and the Oscar-winning Leto is the latest to take on the role. He recently told [Empire](http://www.empireonline.com) how intensely he threw himself into the work. “There was definitely a period of…detachment. I took a pretty deep dive,” [he told the magazine](http://www.ew.com/article/2015/10/26/jared-leto-joker-suicide-squad). “But this was a unique opportunity and I couldn’t imagine doing it another way. It was fun, playing those psychological games.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4130685/jared-leto-joker-suicide-squad-jack-nicholson-heath-ledger/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4130685/jared-leto-joker-suicide-squad-jack-nicholson-heath-ledger/"},"headline":"Jared Leto Hopes Heath Ledger Would Have Been Proud of His Joker","datePublished":"2015-12-01T16:52:28.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:27:14.650Z","description":"And Jack Nicholson, too","url":"https://time.com/4130685/jared-leto-joker-suicide-squad-jack-nicholson-heath-ledger/","keywords":["Newsfeed","movies","Actors","jared leto","Batman","films","Suicide Squad"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4b70d280d0ff3ae9/698873395f570ff295b1e966/jared-leto.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Megan McCluskey","jobTitle":"Staff Writer","url":"https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4b70d280d0ff3ae9/698873395f570ff295b1e966/jared-leto.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"2015 WSJ. 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