Jared Leto likes to get into character and stay there for as long as he can. For his new film, Morbius, that meant intentionally struggling to get around, just like the film’s titular character did before his transformation, said director Daniel Espinosa in an interview with Uproxx.
“Yeah,” Espinosa said, confirming that Leto did indeed use a wheelchair on the set of Morbius. “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 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.”
Leto plays the eponymous protagonist of Spider-Man spin-off Morbius, Michael Morbius. The character has a blood disease that makes him weak, forcing him to use crutches to get around before a transfusion of vampire bat blood causes him to develop superpowers. Leto initially used crutches to get around on-set, but they were making things like bathroom breaks take longer than needed–reportedly clocking at 45 minutes. As a compromise, Leto agreed to use a wheelchair to speed things up. Incidentally, Matt Smith, who also plays a character who uses mobility aids in the film, has had no such reports.
Espinosa, however, added that “almost all actors, in general, have their own reputation of being an interesting person [with] how they work with characters. I think that all of them have these traits. If you want a completely normal person that does only things that you understand, then you’re in the wrong business. Because what’s different is what makes them tick. It’s very hard to be able to say, ‘I can take this part away and I will still get the same stuff from him.'”
This isn’t Leto’s first instance of noteworthy on-set behavior. Alongside his performance as the Joker in David Ayers’ 2016 Suicide Squad film came reports of questionable behavior, including sending a live rat to Margot Robbie, a pornographic magazine to Karen Fukuhara, dead hogs, and used sex toys to the entire cast.
Morbius made $39 million over its opening weekend alongside an overwhelmingly negative response from critics, including our own review, which said that the film “feels like a feature-length teaser for a credits scene that promises more interesting things in the future,” without ever actually getting there.
