'Suicide Squad' actor Jai Courtney clears up the rumor that he did drugs to get his role
Clay Enos/Warner Bros
There has been no shortage of stories of what actors did on the set of "Suicide Squad" — from Jared Leto's disturbing "gifts" to Margot Robbie giving tattoos — but the latest one is still pretty bizarre.
In an interview for the UK magazine Empire, as reported by Yahoo, actor Jai Courtney, who plays Captain Boomerang in the movie, said that on a Skype call with director David Ayer about the role he was on drugs and put out cigarettes on his arms.
"That night I happened to eat some mushrooms," he is quoted as saying, "and I did self-inflict some burns."
The story ran wild on the internet as another example of the wild antics by the actors to prepare for their "Suicide Squad" characters — insane villains from the DC Comics world who are brought together to combat a greater evil.
But while talking to Business Insider on Friday, Courtney tried to clear the air about the comments.
"I've heard so many versions of that story," Courtney said. "It's just a silly thing when s--- gets misconstrued."
When asked if it was a case of joking around with a reporter, he said, "Yeah, I was f---ing around a little. But then that's me having to learn when to put the brakes on because, when a conversation turns into print, it's a little harder to grasp the concept."
So he didn't go to the length of getting high and putting out cigarettes to get the part?
"No. I would never do that," Courtney said.
Yet the stories about Ayer having the cast do exercises leading up to filming — like hitting one another and enduring police interrogations — are true, and Courtney believes that they did elevate everyone's performance.
"It's not like he's complicating anything with this stuff," he said. "It's fueling. It's fanning the fire. It's a really cool way to shake up the usual pattern of preparation for a job."
We'll see if audiences agree when "Suicide Squad" opens in theaters on August 5.
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