Michael Caine Remembers First Time Seeing Heath Ledger’s Joker on The Darkish Knight Set

Heath Ledger’s efficiency because the Joker in The Darkish Knight was so revered that it earned the late actor a posthumous Academy Award. It was a well-deserved win from the perspective of co-star Michael Caine, who was genuinely petrified of Ledger on the set.

Caine mirrored on working with Ledger in his e book, Do not Look Again, You may Journey Over: My Information to Life (per NME). Caine remembered the way it felt when Ledger first got here onto the set in character because the Joker, which was maybe much more scary than seeing the efficiency play out on-screen. Although Caine had spent a number of a long time as a working actor at this level in his profession, he additionally felt that Ledger’s work within the function was so good that it influenced everybody else on the set to “increase our recreation” as effectively.

“The smeared make-up, the bizarre hair, the unusual voice. It was chilling,” Caine mentioned. “Completely floored me the primary time I noticed him in motion – I used to be terrified.”

Sadly, Ledger did not get to see simply how beloved his tackle the Joker would in the end change into. The actor died in 2008, simply 4 months earlier than The Darkish Knight was launched in theaters, following an unintentional overdose on prescribed drugs on the age of 28. Together with being awarded a posthumous Oscar after his demise, Ledger was touted by DC followers as placing in one of the revered performances of the long-lasting Joker character, nonetheless serving as a private favourite for numerous followers internationally.

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Heath Ledger had an inkling that his tackle The Darkish Knight villain would change into a fan favourite.

“Heath was solely 28 when he handed away. I hadn’t even made Zulu after I was that age,” Caine additionally wrote in his e book. “You consider what he might need gone on to attain, it’s simply heart-breaking.”

Everybody Was Terribly Shocked Over Heath’s Passing

Caine went on to deal with how Ledger’s passing made selling The Darkish Knight way more tough, including, “We had been all terribly shocked, and it made doing the publicity for The Darkish Knight that summer season way more intense, as a result of all of the journalists wished to speak about his demise… It nonetheless makes me unhappy to consider it.”

The Darkish Knight was the one movie to win Ledger an Oscar, although it is easy to take a position he might have went on to garner many extra extra nominations if he hadn’t handed away at such a younger age. Earlier than The Darkish Knight, he was nominated for Greatest Actor for his function within the hit drama movie Brokeback Mountain. It was additionally very uncommon for any actor to be nominated for a superhero film function on the Oscars, however it was extensively accepted that Ledger was greater than deserving of the win.

Caine’s Do not Look Again, You may Journey Over: My Information to Life is accessible in bookstores.

Supply: Do not Look Again, You may Journey Over: My Information to Life

The Darkish Knight

Launch Date

July 16, 2008

Runtime

152 minutes

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  Christian Bale

  Bruce Wayne

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