When the DCEU’s Suicide Squad hit theaters, one of the few elements that was praised by critics was Margot Robbie’s performance as Harley Quinn. The same cannot be said for Jared Leto, whose portrayal of the Joker as a meticulous millennial covered in tattoos and angst grated on many viewers.
Robbie has since taken center stage in Birds of Prey and is set to return in James Gunn’s soft reboot The Suicide Squad, while Leto has been tapped to play the Joker again in Zack Snyder’s director’s cut of Justice League. But Robbie and Leto weren’t the producers’ first choices to play Harley and the Joker.
Harley Quinn: Emma Roberts
Before Margot Robbie was cast in Suicide Squad, the role of Harley Quinn was offered to Emma Roberts, but she turned it down in order to star in Fox’s satirical horror series Scream Queens.
Roberts has yet to appear in a comic book blockbuster. She’s primarily known for starring in comedies like Wild Child, Valentine’s Day, and We’re the Millers.
Joker: Ryan Gosling
The producers’ first choice to play the Joker was Ryan Gosling, but he turned down the offer because he was unwilling to commit to the many movies Warner Bros. wanted to contract him for.
Funnily enough, Jared Leto would only end up having to appear in one movie, as that one movie was enough to put fans off of his take on the Clown Prince of Crime, although he will be reprising the role in Zack Snyder’s Justice League on HBO Max.
Harley Quinn: Amanda Seyfried
Amanda Seyfried was considered for the role of Harley Quinn before Margot Robbie was cast. Despite being a huge movie star, Seyfried still has yet to don a cape and play a comic book character in this superhero-infested moviegoing climate.
Seyfried recently revealed that she was offered a role by Marvel Studios – Gamora in Guardians of the Galaxy – but she turned it down because she didn’t want to spend hours in a makeup chair getting painted green every morning.
Joker: Matt Smith
Best known as the eleventh version of the Doctor from Doctor Who and Prince Philip from Netflix’s regal drama The Crown, Matt Smith was on the Suicide Squad producers’ shortlist to play the Joker.
Smith has struggled to break into blockbusters – his highest-profile franchise role is the weird physical incarnation of Skynet in Terminator: Genisys – but he is set to star in Edgar Wright’s upcoming horror movie Last Night in Soho.
Harley Quinn: Mary Elizabeth Winstead
Mary Elizabeth Winstead was on the shortlist to play Harley Quinn before Margot Robbie was cast. Winstead would end up starring as Helena Bertinelli, a.k.a. the Huntress, alongside Robbie’s Harley in Birds of Prey.
In the year that Suicide Squad hit theaters, Winstead appeared in the awesome sci-fi mystery 10 Cloverfield Lane. A year later, she starred in the third season of FX’s Fargo.
Joker: Sharlto Copley
Sharlto Copley was one of the actors considered to play the Joker. His turn as Howling Mad Murdock in the big-screen reboot of The A-Team proved his ability to play a loopy maniac, so he might’ve been able to pull this one off.
Copley’s best-known work has been with director Neill Blomkamp, playing Wikus van der Merwe in District 9, Agent C.M. Kruger in Elysium, and the title character in Chappie. He also appeared alongside Angelina Jolie in Disney’s Maleficent and starred in the P.O.V. actioner Hardcore Henry.
Harley Quinn: Olivia Wilde
Prior to Margot Robbie’s casting, Olivia Wilde was considered to play Harley Quinn. Wilde has never played a superhero or supervillain, but she did appear in Cowboys & Aliens, which was based on a comic book. If Wilde had been cast as Harley, her commitments to the DCEU might have prevented her from making her directorial debut with the stellar high school comedy Booksmart.
Wilde’s burgeoning directing career is set to continue with ‘50s-set psychological thriller Don’t Worry, Darling, Kerri Strug biopic Perfect, a female-centric Marvel superhero movie for Sony, and an untitled Christmas comedy.
Joker: Mark Strong
Before Jared Leto was tapped to play the Joker, the producers considered casting Mark Strong, who would’ve played the part very differently than Leto did. Strong ended up playing a different villain in the DCEU when David F. Sandberg cast him in Shazam! as the villainous, vindictive Doctor Sivana.
Strong has also played two other comic book villains, Sinestro in Green Lantern and Frank D’Amico in Kick-Ass, as well as one comic book sidekick, Merlin in the Kingsman movies.
Harley Quinn: Emma Watson
The producers of Suicide Squad considered Emma Watson for the role of Harley Quinn. Watson, of course, is no stranger to franchise commitments, having spent her childhood playing Hermione Granger in the Harry Potter movies.
Before landing on Margot Robbie, the producers also considered a long list of actors including Alison Brie, Emily Browning, Lily Collins, Rooney Mara, Imogen Poots, Emma Stone, Olivia Thirlby, and Evan Rachel Wood for the part.