Margot Robbie feared Jared Leto's Joker behavior during Suicide Squad

Margot Robbie panicked when she discovered Jared Leto was method acting during the filming of Suicide Squad, as she's in an "abusive relationship" with his character.

Fans are eagerly anticipating the release of the DC Comics movie, about a group of imprisoned supervillains hired on a mission to save the world from a mysterious, powerful threat.

Australian actress Margot, 26, stars as Harley Quinn, the crazed lover of Jared's Joker. Much was made of the 44-year-old actor's decision to live as his alter ego away from the camera, with Margot previously admitting his green hair, smudged red lips and gold teeth scared her. But she now reveals that her fears extended past his appearance.

"He’s kind of terrifying. He’s really lovely, though," she told slashfilm.com. "He’s very conscientious on set. He’s not completely lost in the character that he’s violent or anything. Between every take he asks if I’m okay...

"So when I first heard that he was method (acting), and that we couldn’t refer to him as Jared and things like that, I started to panic a bit because I’m in an abusive relationship with this guy who thinks he is the character. I was worried I’d get beat up on set. But he’s respectful, professional, and lovely. It is so incredible to watch him work because it is a really bizarre process and kind of fascinating."

A whole host of big names join Margot and Jared in the movie, such as Will Smith, Cara Delevingne and Jai Courtney. Fellow Aussie Jai plays Boomerang, a deadly assassin who uses the curved wood pieces as weapons, and the film star holds fond memories of the camaraderie on set.

"It’s been one of those bizarrely pleasant experiences," he said, explaining that unlike some projects in which something negative happens early on during production, it wasn't the case here. "It was probably the rehearsal time that we were afforded, I think that meant that there was this period of concentration where we got to trust each other and coupled that with this lucky accident of the group that was assembled."

Suicide Squad hits cinemas on 5 August (16).