Oscar-winner Jared Leto and Margot Robbie play the world's ultimate dysfunctional couple The Joker and Harley Quinn in Warner Bros. Pictures' wickedly fun action-adventure “Suicide Squad.”
While most complicated people try to keep their weaknesses a secret, former psychiatrist Dr. Harleen Quinzel (Robbie) wears hers on her sleeve. She openly expresses her love for the Joker, a man she was once assigned to psychoanalyze at the notorious Arkham Asylum prison, but for whom she now brands herself with tattoos that bear his name and symbols. Her transformation into Harley Quinn—Joker’s lover and the target of his twisted affections—was the result of the tables turned by a master manipulator.
But Harley has been separated from her true love by the thick walls of Belle Reve Federal Penitentiary, which is designed to hold the “worst of the worst.”
Harley’s love for her boyfriend initially troubled Margot Robbie, who was tasked with bringing the harlequin to life. “Why does she love this guy?” the actress asks. “It was one of the things I really struggled to crack with this character. She’s so strong and smart and such a badass, she’s just awesome, but then she falls to pieces over this guy all the time. It’s something I didn’t like about her because I didn’t understand it at first. So, because she’s a psychiatrist, I decided to do research into the concept of codependence. I was taken by the idea that people could really live their life for one person. And it turns out it’s not really about the person, it’s a compulsion like alcohol or drug addiction. Once I thought of her relationship with Joker in those terms, as an addiction, I had a world of empathy for her.”
Ayer found himself fascinated by Harley’s psyche as well. “She’s a bit of a female Joker,” he says, “she has this amazingly chaotic personality; she’s mad, she’s uncensored, does what she wants. She’s only been around in the comics since the 1990s, but has leapt off the page ever since she appeared, and Margot worked hard to take her even further, from the page to the screen, with all the spontaneity and humor and power fans love about the character.”
But what of the Joker in return? Does he truly love Harley? Jared Leto doesn’t let on any more than his character would. “The Joker has a very strong attachment to Harley,” says Leto. “No one else really matters very much, but why would they when you’ve got her? What’s the rest of the world? It’s just a game. We’re sharing a wicked dream and having a good laugh.” But once she’s taken away, will he bother to try and find her?
Leto courageously took on the role of the lunatic who so easily takes to the asylum. “The Joker is iconic, a legend,” he declares. “He’s been around for 75 years, and there are so many variations of his story. The Joker is Mount Everest: one of those impossible ideas where you most likely can’t achieve what you set out to do. It was terrifying and exciting and a total honor to take on that role.”
It was a challenge for director-writer David Ayer in scripting the character as well. “The Joker is a fascinating, complex guy, but it was terrifying to work with that character because he’s one of the best-known villains in Western fiction. He has this incredible history, and the trick was to be respectful of the legacy of the Joker and the canon and everything that has come before. To understand the core of that character and not tamper with that, yet at the same time reinvent the Joker for this film.”
Leto also admits the notion was daunting at first. “I remember when I got the call, I had this simultaneous feeling of excitement and dread. As soon as I heard the word Joker I knew that I was going to have to dive really deep and go to a place I had never gone before. He’s been interpreted so beautifully, they should almost put a cap on the well and just call it. But then there was the other side: what else could I uncover? What could I do that hadn’t been done? The side of me that likes exploration, adventure, to push the envelope, was set on fire immediately. And it changed me forever. It was such an immersive, challenging, unique experience going into that rabbit hole. I never thought in a million years I would have the chance to play a role like this.”
Robbie, whose scenes with the Joker were her most intimate, found her co-star’s interpretation both energizing and unnerving. “Jared and I didn’t really do any rehearsals,” she relates, “so when we got in front of the camera those scenes were just electric because those characters are so unpredictable.”
Opening across the Philippines in 3D, and in 2D, and in IMAX 3D theaters on Thursday, August 4, “Suicide Squad” is distributed worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company.
Australian actress Margot Robbie (“The Wolf of Wall Street,” “Focus”) emerged as a breakout star with her captivating onscreen presence and has quickly become one of the busiest actresses in the industry.
Now, she stars as a feisty Jane to Alexander Skarsgård’s “king of the jungle” in Warner Bros. Pictures' new action-adventure, “The Legend of Tarzan” (opening in Philippine cinemas June 30.)
Robbie appreciated the film’s more contemporary approach to the couple. “It’s set in the 1800s, but it has a very modern feel to it, with universal themes that are applicable no matter what day and age it is,” she says. “There is a fantastic adventure, but with a wonderful romance at its core. I liked that it’s not the origin story of Tarzan and Jane meeting in the jungle. Their relationship is more complex now.”
One crucial quality in the casting of both Skarsgård and Robbie was the chemistry between the two actors. “It was vital to immediately feel the love between John and Jane,” director David Yates affirms, “because they are separated not long after arriving in Africa. Although they are kept apart for a significant amount of time, you have to believe their bond is unbreakable.”
“I think their romance is what gives you the emotional investment in the outcome of the story because, at the end of the day, you want them to be reunited,” Robbie relates. “I’m a sucker for a good love story, and the mere notion that Tarzan will go to the ends of the earth to get Jane back can make you a little giddy…especially when it’s Alexander Skarsgård,” she smiles. “He has a great presence and was so committed to his role, but beyond that, he’s just the nicest, nicest guy and a dream to work with.”
The feeling was mutual. “Margot is so lovely and has the most effervescent personality,” Skarsgård says. “It was so much fun working with her. She’s also a pretty tough Australian girl, and definitely tapped into that in creating Jane.”
The director points to Robbie’s innate strength as a reason he wanted her for the role. “Jane has to be feisty and passionate. She’s not a wilting flower waiting to be saved; she can kick some ass. Margot is not only an amazing actress, she has spunk and I love that about her. She made Jane a formidable, contemporary woman.”
Robbie makes it clear she would not have had it any other way, stating, “I’ve never wanted to play the damsel in distress, and Jane is anything but. David and I both agreed that she should be perceived as a very fiery and strong person, so I was excited about that. She is capable of fighting back, which also creates a terrific dynamic with Christoph Waltz’s character, who is the main villain. It’s more like mind games between them, which is interesting because while there are physical battles going on, you also have fighting on an intellectual field.”
Following “The Legend of Tarzan,” Robbie stars as Harley Quinn in the much-anticipated action adventure “Suicide Squad,” marking the first time the fan-favorite comic book villain will be seen on the big screen. Robbie joins an ensemble cast, also including Will Smith, Jared Leto and Joel Kinnaman, in the film, directed by David Ayer and opening on August 4 in the Philippines.
From Warner Bros. Pictures and Village Roadshow Pictures comes the action adventure “The Legend of Tarzan,” starring Alexander Skarsgård as the legendary character created by Edgar Rice Burroughs.
The film also stars Oscar nominee Samuel L. Jackson, Margot Robbie, Oscar nominee Djimon Hounsou, with Oscar winner Jim Broadbent and two-time Oscar winner Christoph Waltz.
It has been years since the man once known as Tarzan (Skarsgård) left the jungles of Africa behind for a gentrified life as John Clayton III, Lord Greystoke, with his beloved wife, Jane (Robbie) at his side. Now, he has been invited back to the Congo to serve as a trade emissary of Parliament, unaware that he is a pawn in a deadly convergence of greed and revenge, masterminded by the Belgian, Captain Leon Rom (Waltz). But those behind the murderous plot have no idea what they are about to unleash.
“The Legend of Tarzan” is distributed in 2D, 3D and IMAX 3D by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company.
First appearing in the 1912 story Tarzan of the Apes, Edgar Rice Burroughs’ Tarzan has remained one of the most enduring characters of 20th-century popular culture. The legendary “lord of the apes” has inspired films, TV serials, radio plays, stage productions, comics and video games.
But what the filmmakers of the upcoming action adventure “The Legend of Tarzan” found in the new script by Adam Cozad and Craig Brewer was a fresh and entirely new take on the legend. “It has great characters, romance, humor and fabulous action,” says David Barron, who is producing the film (with Jerry Weintraub, as well as Alan Riche and Tony Ludwig). “It’s a large-scope, audience-friendly film, but with a thinking mind and a beating heart.”
“It’s not Tarzan as you know it,” director David Yates adds. “It’s not a bloke in a loincloth. It’s a big, epic theatrical experience that’s grounded in how we see the world now – in how we connect with each other and the animals we share the planet with.”
The film isn’t telling an origin story – it’s set years after Tarzan has left the jungles of Africa behind. But, the director says, we will see glimpses of Tarzan’s life growing up in the wild, with his nurturing ape mother, Kala, and the violent alpha male of the group, Kerchak, who never accepts the human child in their midst. “We see in flashbacks how Jane, as a young girl, goes through the jungle tracking the mysterious ghost of Tarzan,” the director explains. “She’s the one who teases him out of the jungle and rescues him from this fairly brutal life. She saved him, and over the course of our movie, he has to save her – because he can’t really survive without her.”
From Warner Bros. Pictures and Village Roadshow Pictures comes the action adventure “The Legend of Tarzan,” starring Alexander Skarsgård (HBO’s “True Blood”) as the legendary character created by Edgar Rice Burroughs.
The film also stars Oscar nominee Samuel L. Jackson (the “Captain America” films), Margot Robbie (“The Wolf of Wall Street,” upcoming “Suicide Squad”), Oscar nominee Djimon Hounsou (“Gladiator”), with Oscar winner Jim Broadbent (“Iris”), and two-time Oscar winner Christoph Waltz (“Django Unchained”).
It has been years since the man once known as Tarzan (Skarsgård) left the jungles of Africa behind for a gentrified life as John Clayton III, Lord Greystoke, with his beloved wife, Jane (Robbie) at his side. Now, he has been invited back to the Congo to serve as a trade emissary of Parliament, unaware that he is a pawn in a deadly convergence of greed and revenge, masterminded by the Belgian, Captain Leon Rom (Waltz). But those behind the murderous plot have no idea what they are about to unleash.
David Yates (the final four “Harry Potter” films, upcoming “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them”) directed “The Legend of Tarzan” from a screenplay by Adam Cozad and Craig Brewer, story by Brewer and Cozad based on the Tarzan stories created by Burroughs.
Slated for release across the Philippines on Thursday, June 30, “The Legend of Tarzan” is distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company.
Tarzan (Alexander Skarsgard) and his wife, Jane (Margot Robbie) join the ranks of the mighty apes in the newly released main one-sheet for “The Legend of Tarzan.”
From Warner Bros. Pictures and Village Roadshow Pictures comes the action adventure “The Legend of Tarzan,” starring Alexander Skarsgård (HBO’s “True Blood”) as the legendary character created by Edgar Rice Burroughs.
The film also stars Oscar nominee Samuel L. Jackson (the “Captain America” films), Margot Robbie (“The Wolf of Wall Street,” upcoming “Suicide Squad”), Oscar nominee Djimon Hounsou (“Gladiator”), with Oscar winner Jim Broadbent (“Iris”), and two-time Oscar winner Christoph Waltz (“Django Unchained”).
It has been years since the man once known as Tarzan (Skarsgård) left the jungles of Africa behind for a gentrified life as John Clayton III, Lord Greystoke, with his beloved wife, Jane (Robbie) at his side. Now, he has been invited back to the Congo to serve as a trade emissary of Parliament, unaware that he is a pawn in a deadly convergence of greed and revenge, masterminded by the Belgian, Captain Leon Rom (Waltz). But those behind the murderous plot have no idea what they are about to unleash.
David Yates (the final four “Harry Potter” films, upcoming “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them”) directed “The Legend of Tarzan” from a screenplay by Adam Cozad and Craig Brewer, story by Brewer and Cozad based on the Tarzan stories created by Burroughs.
Margot Robbie looks so different in this poster and I was not expecting the plot at all!
What do you guys think?
Slated for release across the Philippines on June 30, “The Legend of Tarzan” will be distributed in 2D, 3D and IMAX 3D by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company.
Warner Bros. Pictures' new 3D action adventure, “The Legend of Tarzan” has just released a new trailer that traces the origins of the the legendary character created by Edgar Rice Burroughs.
The trailer which may be viewed at https://youtu.be/30u2yrTd-Pw.
Directed by David Yates (the last four “Harry Potter” blockbusters, including “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Parts 1 & 2”), the film stars Alexander Skarsgård, Samuel L. Jackson, Margot Robbie, Djimon Hounsou, John Hurt, and Christoph Waltz.
In “The Legend of Tarzan,” it has been years since the man once known as Tarzan (Skarsgård) left the jungles of Africa behind for a gentrified life as John Clayton III, Lord Greystoke, with his beloved wife, Jane (Robbie) at his side. Now, he has been invited back to the Congo to serve as a trade emissary of Parliament, unaware that he is a pawn in a deadly convergence of greed and revenge, masterminded by the Belgian, Captain Leon Rom (Waltz). But those behind the murderous plot have no idea what they are about to unleash.
Slated for release across the Philippines on June 30, “The Legend of Tarzan” will be distributed in 2D, 3D and IMAX 3D by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company.