Earlier this morning we posted candid and event photos from Heath Ledger’s all too short life. Here are photos from his many films. Ledger was a gifted actor who chose his roles carefully. He has a much-anticipated upcoming role in Batman sequel The Dark Knight as the Joker. Ledger admitted that preparation for the role gave him insomnia and left him jittery. He lived alone in an hotel room for a month to get in character as The Joker, and also went through some personal stress this year preparing for his role in the Dylan biopic I’m Not There:
Ledger said in an interview in November that “Dark Knight” and last year’s “I’m Not There,” took a heavy toll. He said he “stressed out a little too much” during the Dylan film, and had trouble sleeping while portraying the Joker, whom he called a “psychopathic, mass-murdering, schizophrenic clown with zero empathy.”
“Last week I probably slept an average of two hours a night,” Ledger told The New York Times. “I couldn’t stop thinking. My body was exhausted, and my mind was still going.” He said he took two Ambien pills, which only worked for an hour.
[From Ap.google.com]
Ledger turned down many teen films that were offered to him after his heartthrob role in 10 Things I Hate about You in 1999. He is quoted as saying “It wasn’t a hard decision for me. It was hard for everyone else around me to understand. Agents were like, ‘You’re crazy,’ my parents were like, ‘Come on, you have to eat.'”
Heath’s decision may have kept him from some quick cash, but it helped him land many critically acclaimed roles. He was nominated for an Oscar for his touching and quietly intense performance as a closeted man in the iconic film Brokeback Mountain in 2005. He played a heroin addict in the 2006 independent Australian film Candy, in a performance that was called “immensely impressive” and “perversely appealing.”
While Heath may have been tormented by the lengths he went through to perfect his craft, it’s clear that he was growing immensely as an actor and that some of his best roles were yet to come. RIP Heath, you will be missed and remembered.
Thanks to AllMoviePhoto for these pictures.
1999 10 Things I Hate About You
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