Actor Jared Leto has long been a method actor in how he approaches the few film roles he’s accepted. Leto had previously gone through dramatic weight loss and gain for roles in films, including losing 40 lbs for his Oscar-winning role in Dallas Buyers Club and gaining 67 lbs for the role of Mark David Chapman in Chapter 27, which resulted in Leto contracting gout. Now it seems that Leto has taken his in-character feats to new heights.

Speaking with E! Online, his Suicide Squad co-star Adam Beach (who plays the villain Slipknot) revealed that Leto sent the cast some very unexpected gifts.

“He sent [Margot Robbie] a nice love letter with a black box with a rat in it—a live rat. It was beautiful. Then he sent bullets to Will [Smith] with a letter, and a dead hog…Basically, what he said was, ‘Guys, I can’t be there but I want you to know I’m doing my work as hard as you guys.’ The video he showed is in character. It blew our minds away. Then we realized that day, this is real.”

Suicide Squad stars Will Smith (The Pursuit of Happyness, Focus) as Deadshot, Joel Kinnaman (RoboCop, Easy Money) as Rick Flagg, Margot Robbie (The Wolf of Wall Street) as Harley Quinn, Jai Courtney (Divergent, The Water Diviner) as Captain Boomerang, Cara Delevingne (Anna Karenina, upcoming Pan) as Enchantress, Karen Fukuhara as Katana, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje as Killer Croc, Jay Hernandez as El DIablo, Adam Beach as Slipknot, Viola Davis as Amanda Waller and Jared Leto as the Joker. There’s also mystery roles for Ike Barinholtz, Scott Eastwood, Raymond Olubowale, Alex Meraz, Jim Parrack, and Common.

Created by Robert Kanigher and Ross Andru back in 1959, the Suicide Squad team has included countless DC villains among its ranks, including Deadshot, Captain Boomerang, Bane, Killer Frost, Poison Ivy, Count Vertigo, Deathstroke, and Harley Quinn. The CW’s “Arrow” introduced their own version of the team in the most recent season of the series and the recent animated film, Batman: Assault on Arkham, offered another version of the team.

Written and directed by Ayer, Suicide Squad will shoot until September for an August 5, 2016 release.