Suicide Squad: David Ayer Gets Personal

Suicide Squad director David Ayer got up close and personal with pretty much every cast member

Some directors are mere journeyman, they are their to do a job, and don’t really care about getting to know the cast. Others have a particular vision for their film, be it a little indie flick or a big budget movie and are unwilling to bend on anything. Suicide Squad director David Ayer is a pretty unique one. You may have already heard about how he actually had cast members physically punch each other as a bonding exercise. But David Ayer gets much more personal with his cast members than that. Will Smith talked about the Suicide Squad director’s “rehearsal process”:

"They were technically rehearsals, but not really. It was much more about David spending time going through everyone’s lives, connecting our life experiences to our character’s life experiences and finding those parallels. What we didn’t realize was what he does in the process is he learns our buttons. We are really bonding but David is grabbing all of your deepest emotional issues so he can throw them back in your face on set"

Sounds like it can go some uncomfortable places. It certainly did for Suicide Squad cast member Margot Robbie, who is playing Harley Quinn in the film:

"It was a pretty vulnerable place to go. He wants to know about your personal history and your relationships and your childhood, things like that that you don’t really want to tell a stranger. Then you have to share that with the rest of your squad as well. I really didn’t like that."

Ayer basically explained that he believes acting can’t be comfortable, and actors can be cagey, but you’ve got to get them to open up and use new tools.

Next: Why Will Smith Joined Suicide Squad

It definitely sounds like the cast went through a lot more personal stuff than you’d normally think of in a big budget comic book film. Let’s hope it pays off with a great film filled with great performances when Suicide Squad opens August 5th.

h/t CBM