Andrew Garfield recalled Heath Ledger being “smug” about 2008’s The Darkish Knight, during which he performed The Joker.
Heath Ledger’s flip as The Joker in 2008’s The Darkish Knight stays some of the chilling performances of this century, the actor finally profitable a posthumous Oscar for the defining portrayal of The Clown Prince of Crime. Primarily based on peeks and teases, we knew we’d be in for one thing particular when the movie got here out. And so did Ledger himself, totally conscious simply how highly effective the efficiency and The Darkish Knight can be.
Recounting working with Heath Ledger on The Imaginarium of Physician Parnassus, Andrew Garfield (Anton) remembered the star telling him about his go as The Joker. “He had simply finished the Joker, he had simply completed doing The Darkish Knight, and he was so smug about it. I used to be like, ‘How did that go?’ and he was like, ‘Yeah, it’s actually good.’”
Nevertheless, Heath Ledger wouldn’t discover all the pieces to be humorous surrounding the promotion of The Darkish Knight, particularly with how some publications had been depicting The Joker. “I bear in mind his like, Empire journal cowl got here out and he was like, ‘Oh, they used a f*cking sh*t picture. And I used to be like, ‘Are you kidding me, dude that appears f*cking unimaginable.’ And he was like, ‘Nah, the pose is all improper, it seems to be kinda like a traditional model of what an actor…you’ll see.’ And yeah, I did see.” The quilt in query, from Empire’s January 2008 version, is a nonetheless from the scene the place Ledger’s The Joker is in jail, accompanied by the insanely corny textual content, “He’s a cold-blooded, mass-murdering clown!” Yeah, we are able to see why he took difficulty with it…
Tragically, Heath Ledger would by no means see the theatrical model of The Darkish Knight, dying six months earlier than its launch. He would develop into solely the second – and is the latest – actor to win an Academy Award posthumously. Ledger has one other Oscar distinction, as his and Joaquin Phoenix’s wins for enjoying The Joker made them the second pair to nab statues for enjoying the identical character. The primary was Marlon Brando and Robert De Niro for Vito Corleone; they might later be joined by Rita Moreno and Ariana DeBose for West Facet Story’s Anita.
Heath Ledger died throughout the making of The Imaginarium of Physician Parnassus, with the likes of Johnny Depp, Jude Regulation and future fellow Batman villain Colin Farrell standing in for his character.
