Suicide Squad Meets Fight Club: David Ayer Encouraged Fist Fighting During Rehearsals

David Ayer, who directed Suicide Squad, explained some of the backstage and behind-the-scenes traditions they created while filming the ensemble action flick. One in particular stood out: the cast punched each other during rehearsals. In what sounds like a page torn right out of Fight Club, Ayer explained the punching ritual, saying, “It wasn’t a normal rehearsal, we’d talk about their lives, their history, and really got them to open up as people to each other. I also had them fight. I had them fight each other. You learn a lot about who a person really is when you punch them in the face. It gets rid of a lot of the actor stuff.”

Going the Tyler Durden route was something I never really thought would work for actors, but if Ayer says it worked then I guess it worked. You are not your designer jeans, indeed. It kind of makes sense, I suppose, as this would be almost like coming full circle for Jared Leto, whose Fight Club character was a… “decorated” (read: bruised) member of Project Mayhem.

Speaking of ego death, we’ve touched on Leto’s method acting style, especially with regards to how he’s tackled the role of the Joker—or, “Mr. J” as he had people refer to him during a series of press interviews. Apparently that method also extended elsewhere, as costume designer Rene Fontana described what it was like working with Leto Smiley Mr. J. She said, “When we first met him, he said — look girls, I’m going to be pretty intense, I’m going to be the Joker when I come for fittings. Sometimes he tried to terrify us, but we’re strong women. He was growling at us, and we’d play back.”

Good on them for playing back at that. I’d really love to hear those stories.

The full story of Yahoo! Movies’ set visit is well worth a read, as it describes what it was like wandering around during a day of active filming. If the accounts of actor camaraderie can translate over to the on-screen things, then perhaps there’s a very fun Suicide Squad film just around the corner. Here’s hoping, eh?

(via Uproxx)

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