--- title: Jared Leto Suicide Squad: How He Created Joker Laugh description: Jared Leto reveals his creepy method for developing his unsettling laugh as the Joker for the upcoming movie, "Suicide Squad." canonical: https://time.com/4324670/suicide-squad-jared-leto-laugh/ author: Cady Lang article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-05-10T16:43:20.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:32:17.084Z og:title: Here's the Creepy Way Jared Leto Created the Joker's Laugh og:description: Crowd-sourcing at its best. og:url: https://time.com/4324670/suicide-squad-jared-leto-laugh/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb7b4cd6b72d8dc6f/69889292ab6d7726df6a9a13/jared-leto-joker-laugh.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: US-OSCARS-ARRIVALS og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Here's the Creepy Way Jared Leto Created the Joker's Laugh twitter:description: Crowd-sourcing at its best. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb7b4cd6b72d8dc6f/69889292ab6d7726df6a9a13/jared-leto-joker-laugh.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Jared Leto Had the Creepiest Trick for Creating His Joker Laugh for _Suicide Squad_  by [Cady Lang](https://time.com/author/cady-lang/)  ## Cady Lang May 10, 2016 4:43 PM UTC  Actor Jared Leto arrives on the red carpet for the 88th Oscars on February 28, 2016 in Hollywood, California. (VALERIE MACON/AFP/Getty Images) Actor Jared Leto arrives on the red carpet for the 88th Oscars on February 28, 2016 in Hollywood, California. (VALERIE MACON/AFP/Getty Images)VALERIE MACON—AFP/Getty Images  by [Cady Lang](https://time.com/author/cady-lang/)  ## Cady Lang May 10, 2016 4:43 PM UTC When [Jared Leto commits to a role](http://time.com/4087973/jared-leto-suicide-squad-empire/), he doesn’t play around. His latest turn as the Joker in the upcoming [_Suicide Squad_ movie](http://time.com/4288039/suicide-squad-footage-mtv-movie-awards/) has already garnered lots of buzz, thanks to his extensive method acting. As a telling example of just how immersed he was in the character, the Oscar winner [gifted fellow cast member Viola Davis with a dead pig](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7BqO6nvEQMc) and [sent Margot Robbie a live rat](http://www.nbc.com/the-tonight-show/video/jared-leto-gave-margot-robbie-a-live-rat-as-a-suicide-squad-set-gift/2994857). His creepy method for developing the unnerving laugh as the Joker might just take the cake, however. Leto told the hosts of CNBC’s “[Squawk Box](http://www.cnbc.com/2016/05/03/jared-leto-got-in-on-uber-airbnb-heres-one-key-to-his-success.html)” that he relied on some unconventional crowd sourcing to develop his character’s trademark cackle. “I worked on the laugh walking around the streets of New York and Toronto, and I kinda would walk around the streets and see what laughs would get under people’s skin,” Leto said. “You know when you hear someone laugh at a restaurant? It’s a little jarring. I tried them out. And I kind of got to a place where I would laugh and people are always turning around like, ‘Who is this creepy guy behind me?'” You can watch part of the interview with Leto below. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4324670/suicide-squad-jared-leto-laugh/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4324670/suicide-squad-jared-leto-laugh/"},"headline":"Jared Leto Had the Creepiest Trick for Creating His Joker Laugh for Suicide Squad","datePublished":"2016-05-10T16:43:20.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:32:17.084Z","description":"Crowd-sourcing at its best","url":"https://time.com/4324670/suicide-squad-jared-leto-laugh/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Entertainment","movies","celebrities","jared leto","Suicide Squad"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb7b4cd6b72d8dc6f/69889292ab6d7726df6a9a13/jared-leto-joker-laugh.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Cady Lang","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/cady-lang/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb7b4cd6b72d8dc6f/69889292ab6d7726df6a9a13/jared-leto-joker-laugh.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"US-OSCARS-ARRIVALS","caption":"US-OSCARS-ARRIVALS","creditText":"VALERIE MACON—AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4324670/suicide-squad-jared-leto-laugh/","name":"Jared Leto Had the Creepiest Trick for Creating His Joker Laugh for Suicide Squad"}}]}] ```