The Little Things: Denzel Washington on Jared Leto’s method acting

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

In recent years, Jared Leto has earned quite the reputation for himself after pulling pranks on his fellow co-stars. Take his turn as the Joker in Suicide Squad for example. While working on the David Ayer-directed film, Leto reportedly went full-Method actor by sending his castmates outrageous gifts – a live rat, and oh yeah, a dead pig. Needless to say, Leto's not-so-Secret Santa stunt did not go over well with the parties involved, and so it strikes me as no surprise to hear that he neglected to pull any of that nonsense while working alongside Denzel Washington and Rami Malek on the set of John Lee Hancock's The Little Things.

"He didn’t do any of that with me," Washington recently told USA Today about Leto's "good boy" behavior while shooting Hancock's serial killer-centric thriller. "Nah. He’d have been paid a visit. That wouldn’t happen." Haha! I love the part when Washington says "He'd have been paid a visit." He sounds like a hard-as-nails mafioso who'd sooner have Leto sleeping with the fishes than allow him to pull a fast one on set. Classic.

While Washington was certainly keeping an eye on Leto during production, he welcomed the chance to work alongside him as well as Malek.

"There’s a whole crop of these younger actors, and it's fascinating to watch them coming up behind me," says Washington. "Unfortunately, we lost one with Chad Boseman (who died of colon cancer last year). But Jared is one, obviously, and Rami is doing great work. It’s inspiring and like a wake-up call. It’s like, I have to get my act together here. These guys ain’t playing."

The way Washington tells it, there was a bit of tension between him and Leto while filming The Little Things. While capturing their first scene together, the two actors remained a good distance from one another, choosing to exchange a polite nod rather than words.

"I stayed away from him. He stayed away from me, respectfully so," recalls Washington. "We’d bow or nod from across the highway. Literally, one day we nodded across the highway from each other."

Ah, but there's more to the story. Are you ready for this? Washington fully admits to spying on Leto during production. "I’d follow him around. I was outside of his apartment sometimes and he didn’t know," says Washington. "I won’t say anything more about it. I’ll put it this way, he didn’t know." Oh wow, I honestly don't know how to digest this last bit. I'm not sure if this is in some way a dose of his own medicine for Leto or completely out of line. Either way, the thought of Washington standing outside my home, watching my movements, sends quite the shiver down my spine.

The film's director, John Lee Hancock, also spoke with USA Today and told them about an intense interrogation scene shared between Washington's Joe Deacon, Leto's Albert Sparma, and Malek's Jim Baxter. Describing the creative energy as something of a powder keg ready to go off, he remembers Washington's hype factor right before stepping onto the scene.

"Afterward, Denzel said to me, 'Man, they are throwing down. I cannot wait to get in that room,' " says Hancock. "He told me, 'I feel like I'm the old heavyweight and I'm watching two young bucks battle in the ring.' "

The Little Things is now playing in select theaters and is available on HBO Max, where available. If you're a subscriber to the service, maybe give a watch and see if you can spot the intense chemistry shared between the film's primary cast.