Zack Snyder’s Justice League, a.k.a. “the Snyder Cut,” hit HBO Max this week.
To discuss the fan-pleasing film’s arrival and more, Jared Leto—who returned to the Joker character for Snyder’s passion project—dropped in on Stephen Colbert’s Late Show proceedings on Thursday night. Asked about the film serving as a sort of redemption for his take on the DC villain, Leto explained what he loved most about working with Snyder and also detailed the inspiration behind the charity-supporting “We live in a society” t-shirt he wore for the interview.
“I always loved Zack Snyder and I think that the story behind this Snyder Cut is really one for the ages, what happened around him not finishing the first film,” Leto told Colbert. “And, you know, I’m actually wearing this shirt [of] ‘We live in a society,’ which was an ad-lib that I threw out on the day shooting it and it ended up in the trailer and then kinda went viral and we’re selling these on my band’s website … The profits are going to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. I know a lot of people know this story about Zack and how deep it runs but I was just happy to be a part of his dream and to get asked to play the Joker a second time was just a treat. It’s one of those roles that’s just incredible.”
As fans know, Zack and Deborah Snyder exited the initial Justice League production after they both “lost the will to fight” over the film following the death of their Autumn, who died by suicide in 2017.
Elsewhere in the Colbert interview, Leto was asked to describe the difference between his Suicide Squad iteration of the Joker and the Snyder Cut version.
“I think it’s an evolution,” he said. “You know, they’re some years apart and certainly different directors … When you work with a different director, you bring out different things or they bring out different things in you. I loved working with [Snyder]. I loved his passion. He knows more about this world than almost anybody.”
Zack Snyder’s Justice League is out now.
