Heath's Co-Stars: Praise for The Joker

We all lost an incredible actor early this year when talented young Heath Ledger died from an accidental overdose of prescription drugs. We spoke with his co-stars in The Dark Knight, about Heath's final completed performance and all of them seem to feel that his scary, frenetic portrayal of The Joker merits an Oscar nomination. This reporter agrees. All the chatter about depression etc. seems to be negated by Heath's fellow actors and director who have nothing but positive memories of the last working days of a phenomenal actor, gone before his time. Here's to you, Heath, praise from your friends....

From Aaron Eckhart (who plays Harvey Dent/Two Face)

TeenHollywood: You and Heath were in the same make-up trailer getting these two weird faces put on, right? What was that like?

Aaron: Yeah. He brought in his iPod that had more songs than EMI. He had all this stuff going. It was cool, it was a lot of fun because of all the noises you make getting into character. Heath used to always be throwing back his hair. It was a lot of fun in that make-up trailer discovering our characters together.

TeenHollywood: What was he like to work with?

Aaron: Heath was wonderful to work with. I unfortunately didn't get enough time to spend with him personally and professionally. I was amazed by his talent and what he was doing with the Joker. We went to rehearsals in London, and he started doing his thing albeit in less than first gear. I thought 'Okay, alright we'll see. This kid is doing something here. I'd better step it up.' I said to Chris [Nolan, director] 'He's really going to be good in this.' He said 'Yeah.'

TeenHollywood: And he continued to feel that way?

Aaron: Yeah. I would hear reports about what Heath was doing and I would back to work after having time off. I would say 'Hey Chris, how did it go? What's been happening?' His eyes would light up and he would say 'Wow! Heath's been doing this, and he's been doing this and he did this.' I was like 'Okay.' So we all were watching Heath pretty closely and felt he was doing something special.

TeenHollywood: You have one very special scene in which Joker kind of talks Harvey Dent into a revenge lifestyle as Two Face. How did that go?

Aaron: Our scene together in the hospital is our biggest scene. That was Heath's scene and he drove it, had all the energy in it. I really got a lot of energy from him and throughout the day he would find his character. He would find different things to do in the faces. He would improvise and he knew his character so well, so thoroughly that he could go anywhere at any time. When he started I thought 'Okay, what am I going to do here? I know how I feel but I don't know what I'm going to do.' Heath would really help me with that. I felt it was an honor to work with him. I would like to say one last thing about him. He was great off the set. He was happy and he showed me pictures of his kid and talked about his kid, liked to listen to music, and stuff like that. I think that is important to note.

From Christian Bale (Bruce Wayne/Batman)

TeenHollywood: Some are saying that Heath turns in a performance for the ages. Would you agree?

Christian: Absolutely. First of all it's wonderful that people are recognizing that. I love the fact that, even the possibility that people are talking about accolades for an actor in a superhero action genre movie. Usually that is never even considered. So kudos to Chris [Nolan] for doing that and to Heath for coming forward with that devastating performance. He has raised the bar, completely, with it. He was absolutely committed. I enjoyed working with him immensely. Clearly it is tragic that we are talking about this as his last complete performance. I would love it if he were to be walking in the room right now. He would be talking, he's great company. I looked forward to working with him many times in the future, I looked forward to being his friend for many years to come. But this movie can be a celebration of his talent. He was a fierce talent and I was very fortunate to get to witness that talent and work with it and know the man during his lifetime.

TeenHollywood: You have a very violent scene with Heath, it's quite unpleasant. What surprised you about working with him and how tough was it to do that particular scene?

Christian: The interrogation sequence? That was our very first scene together, and it was a great way to start because also we were afforded the luxury for being completely alone inside of that room with the cameras outside, with just mirrors surrounding us so that the two of us [were] able to be eyeballing each other and then any way we looked we would just see reflections of two freaks sitting at the table together. I was able to see for the first time how Heath was playing the Joker, and the complete commitment he had to it, and really enjoyed seeing that. Of course, what the scene reveals is that this is not going to be Batman's ordinary foe who he is able to intimidate with violence, because the more he beats the Joker, the bigger the smile on the Joker's face becomes, so he realizes he's just satisfying the Joker with this violence.

TeenHollywood: It looked like there were some real injuries.

Christian: Heath, man, he received some heavy bangs and bruises from that scene and he loved every second of it. He just adored it, he was egging me on for more. The walls were buckling in from doing that scene. He had total commitment to it, he created this really iconic villain, portrayed the Joker in a way that he's never been portrayed before, far creepier, far more anarchic than anything we've seen, you know, Clockwork Orange style Joker, and it was a great scene to kick off with.

From Gary Oldman (Commissioner Gordon)

TeenHollywood: Can you talk a little about working with Heath? That's a great scene that you have with him. Can you talk a little about his performance?

Gary: Well, there are actors that sometimes go through the sound barrier. I would arguably say that it was possibly psychologically one of the most frightening screen villains ever. I think it's up there with Dennis Hopper as Frank Booth in Blue Velvet. That's pretty scary. We've got the original Cape Fear with Robert Mitchum. That's a villain. Hannibal Lecter. I think he moved the bar. [Friends would ask] 'what's it like? What's Heath like?' I said, 'He's f**king sensational! It's like he's tuned into a frequency. He's found a radio station that none of us can hear.' You know what I mean? Sometimes it just happens with an actor. I've had a few occasionally where I've worked and I've felt in certain roles that it's as easy as breathing. But that's very rare. You wind yourself up and there's this level of energy and intensity around the thing and Heath had that. There's a total commitment to the part.

TeenHollywood: You never felt that he was depressed during shooting?

Gary: I think people always look for a darker story and they want to see something a little bit darker and sinister. Heath would come out of character, sit down on the curb with me, have a smoke and talk about Matilda and laugh and joke. People talk about the intensity of Christian Bale and they say he's a method actor. Well he's still alive. I believe it was an accident and that was it. He's probably looking down now and saying, 'Are you kidding me? I'm going to get nominated for an Oscar? Now!'?

From Maggie Gyllenhaal (Rachel Dawes)

TeenHollywood: You have a really chilling moment with Heath when The Joker threatens you in the party scene. What surprised you most about working with him?

Maggie: I knew, I guess immediately, that he was doing something really unusual and rare and extremely special even for the most talented and experienced of actors which is that he sort of found this stride where he was totally free. What's so incredible about that is when that happens it bleeds over into everyone around you. Although the scene that I did with him was scary and full of tension, it actually was so fun because he'd take anything that I threw at him. He threw all sorts of interesting things back at me. It was fun.

Christopher Nolan (Dark Knight director)

TeenHollywood: Why did you choose Heath for The Joker?

Chris: What I knew I needed for the Joker was an actor of extraordinary talent, and that was evident from his other work. His performance in Brokeback Mountain, for example, which was truly spectacular. But also an actor who was unafraid, who was completely prepared to take on an iconic role and make it his own. Heath told me he could do that, before we even had a script, you know, I met with him. He and I saw it the same way, we saw it as crafting a character who is an absolute, who is devoted to an idea of pure anarchy, a desire to seek chaos, a desire to just rip the world down around himself. Purely for his own amusement. And Heath really got that.

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Lynn Barker is a Hollywood-based entertainment journalist and produced screenwriter.