‘Suicide Squad’ made Jared Leto cut his hair

Jared Leto is ditching the Jesus look and embracing his inner Joker. Earlier today, director David Ayer tweeted two new photographs of Leto, who stars as Batman’s most iconic nemesis in the upcoming Suicide Squad. One photograph, below, shows a pair of open scissors being held up to Leto’s lush ponytail. The second, above, shows the clean-shaven actor in three-quarter profile, running a hand through his newly trimmed hair.

Leto is pictured with his hand over one side of his face, clean shaven (yes the beard has gone too), with short back and sides.We knew this day was coming, but honestly we never could have been prepared

Of course, Leto is no stranger to making dramatic changes for a role. For his Oscar-winning performance in Dallas Buyers Club as Rayon, a transgender woman dying over AIDS, Leto made a complete physical transformation , waxing off his eyebrows and shedding over 30 pounds. In addition to cutting his famous hair, Leto told Billboard last month that he was “trying to gain a lot of weight” in preparation for Suicide Squad (though it doesn’t show in Ayer’s photos). It sounds like Leto is working hard to prepare for his debut as the Joker, and who can blame him? The last actor to play the Joker on the big screen was Heath Ledger, who won a posthumous Oscar for his universally acclaimed performance in 2008’s The Dark Knight.