Jared Leto reportedly slowed down production on Morbius by insisting that he stay in character and continue to use his crutches during bathroom breaks.

• READ MORE: Morbius review: Jared Leto’s lifeless vampire thriller is bloody awful

In an interview with Uproxx, the film’s director Daniel Espinosa confirmed that the crew eventually chose to push Leto to the bathroom in a wheelchair in order to speed up the process.

Leto plays the anti-hero Dr. Michael Morbius in the movie. After being diagnosed with a rare blood disorder, he’s determined to save himself and others – but the ‘cure’ comes at a price, transforming him into a vampire-like creature.

During the conversation, Espinosa defended Leto’s method acting, arguing that it helped the actor fully immerse himself in the pain of his character.

“I think that what Jared thinks, what Jared believes, is that somehow the pain of those movements, even when he was playing normal Michael Morbius, he needed, because he’s been having this pain his whole life,” Espinosa said. “Even though, as he’s alive and strong, it has to be a difference.

“Hey, man, it’s people’s processes. All of the actors believe in processes. And you, as director, you support whatever makes it as good as you can be.”

Espinosa remained positive about both Leto and Morbius – despite the film receiving almost unanimously negative reviews – and described the art of acting as “really mysterious”.

“Almost all actors, in general, have their own reputation of being an interesting person how he works with their characters. I think that all of them have these traits. If you want a completely normal person that does only things that you understand, then you’re in the wrong business.

“Because what’s different is what makes them tick. It’s very hard to be able to say, ‘I can take this part away and I will still get the same stuff from him.’ I don’t do that. I’m more to see like, ‘Hey, if you’re doing this, we have to do this.’”

Last month (March 17), Leto said that he doesn’t believe cinemas would have survived had it not been for the success of the Marvel films.

“It doesn’t seem like there’s room for everyone, and that starts to become a little heartbreaking,” he added

The 50-year-old also recently confirmed his band Thirty Seconds To Mars will release new material “momentarily”.