In Memory of Actor Heath Ledger, Who Died from an Accidental Drug Overdose on January 22, 2008
Many years ago, my parents sat in front of the television to watch one of their favorite shows: Batman. At that time, Batman's most famous villain was The Joker, who was portrayed by Cesar Romero. Originally, The Joker had a painted white clown face, complete with red lips and neon green hair. His costume bordered on comical. He was always acting hilarious, leaping around and giggling like a half-crazed hyena. His jokes were always funny, his juvenile pranks rarely hurting anyone. Because, of course, Batman was always there to save the day.
More recently, director Christopher Nolan began his own Batman trilogy, with Christian Bale as the caped crusader. After a cleverly planned trail of deceit and betrayal was laid out by Ras al Ghul (Liam Neeson) in his the first Batman film, Nolan began to think. Who would be next to challenge Gotham's misunderstood hero? His solution was The Dark Knight, starring Heath Ledger as The Joker. With most having only seen Cesar Romero's Joker, the public was completely unprepared for the premiere of the newest scarred demon. This Joker's skin was lathered with matted white paint. His eyes were constantly surrounded by dark circles of makeup, his sweat causing the color to drip down the sides of his face. His lips were curled forcefully into a smile, the deep cuts on each cheek made by some sort of knife. The scars extended almost past his cheekbones, giving him a lisp that made his already malicious voice just that much crueler. The actor himself fell into a staggered sleeping pattern, only getting rest an average of two hours per night. He described the Joker as "a psychopathic, mass-murdering, schizophrenic clown with zero empathy." Ledger ended up lapsing in and out of depression over the next several years, until eventually he died of an accidental drug overdose.
The ways this character is portrayed are completely different. The Joker was at one point a stupid, laughable villain. Then the preverbal baton was handed to Ledger, who twisted the character into a terrifying monster. Even director Christopher Nolan had to leave the room during some of the crazed killer's scenes. Heath Ledger's Joker was just too real. Actor Johnny Depp once said, "With any part you play, there is a certain amount of yourself in it. There has to be, otherwise it's not just acting. It's lying." It's obvious that Ledger took these words too literally. It's a difficult thing, but this is a lesson that all of us should remember. If you immerse yourself too much into a fake character, especially one like The Joker, you could lose your grip on reality, along your own identity.
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For the record, I know longer consider Jack Nicholson (another portrayer of The Joker) a good actor. His comment after Heath Ledger died was cryptic and ill-timed. After the younger actor passed away, Nicholson snapped the following words at news reporters: "Well, I warned him." Then he went on to say how furious he was that he was not asked for his own input on how to portray The Joker in Christopher Nolan's movie. He made it all about himself, rather than about the young actor that had died such a sudden death not even a week before.
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