Fresh in our minds

Big thanks to Twisted Logic for letting us know that Empire has yet again proven itself a wondrous publication by putting Heath Ledger on the cover of its summer The Dark Knight special edition. Alternatively, you can buy a Batty version of the cover but I think I'm going to stick with this one.


I have also scanned the other images of Heath from the article, as well as the photograph of Rachel Dawes, or Maggie Gyllenhaal. You can read a full transcript of the article here (many thanks to them!), and its tributes to Heath, who, as immersed as he must have been in this extraordinary role, must have been an incredible presence on the set, leaving lasting impressions and memories.


Director Christopher Nolan says of the Joker: 'I like to say he cuts through the movie the way the shark does in Jaws. He just kind of comes and goes and causes complete mayhem.' Christian Bale drew pleasure from his opponent: 'It's a funny meeting of these two characters," reflects Bale. "Batman I always kind of view as having this slight urge towards sadism and having to control himself in that, but the fact is, he's got an opponent who's a sadist and a masochist. Batman can punch The Joker all he wants and he knows he's actually giving him a great deal of pleasure! So he's a new kind of opponent. It's been very good and entertaining for me to do those scenes with Heath.'


But that's the Joker, as for Heath, his death 'is understandably a sensitive one for his colleagues on The Dark Knight. "It's so fresh in my mind, I'm not comfortable talking publicly about what has happened to him," says Bale. "It was devastating. It's still unbelievable. It's difficult for me to talk about Heath in the past tense," offers Aaron Eckhart. "It's so hard to talk about how it's affected me personally," explains Maggie Gyllenhaal. "It's been really hard for me. And the media has shocked me with the way that they've been disrespectful in some ways." She's referring, at least in part, to the speculation in both the press and the blogosphere that taking on the vicious, twisted role of The Joker might have somehow pushes a troubled Ledger over the edge. This is unlikely. It ignores the fact that this was a role Ledger had long since finished with (The Dark Knight wrapped in November), as well as one which, by most accounts, he enjoyed.'

'Indeed, when Empire met Ledger at the LaSalle Street production base back in August, he had this to say about The Joker; "It's the most fun I've had playing a role. I'm really surprised Chris knew I could do it, or thought that I had something in me like this. And I don't know how he came to cast me. but, yeh, it's the bomb. Definitely the most fun I've had, and the most freedom."'


Christian Bale tells one story that certainly bears this out. He recalls their first scene together, in which Batman interrogates The Joker down at Gotham P. D.. "It was wonderful," Bale says, chuckling slightly, "because you're doing it, and you're into it, and someone in the crew will have a question and it pulls you right out, and you turn around, and they have these two-way mirrors, so everywhere we looked we were looking at ourselves, and you suddenly see what you're looking like to everybody else. And we were just a couple of freaks!" He laughs loudly. "I'm standing there in the suit and he's there, you know, with his Chelsea smile, and it was just a couple of complete nutters. We both couldn't stop laughing!

"He was very good company, Heath," continues Bale. "I really enjoy it when somebody is pushing the work as much as he did. You can see how much he loved it."


Nolan, meanwhile speaks of his own "huge sense of responsibility to make sure that the film is as good as Heath's performance", and confirms that The Dark Knight will be dedicated to Ledger. He stops shy of predicting that this will stand as Ledger's greatest performance, though. "I think that Heath has some pretty amazing performances under his belt. Certainly, his performance in Brokeback Mountain was that most impressed me of what he'd done. Monster's Ball as well. This performance is completely different from anything he'd ever done before. I just don't think that people will even recognise him. He's a completely different guy: the voice, the movements, what's going on in his eyes... It's completely different. i think it's his most iconic performance. In taking on The Joker I suppose that's inevitable, but the fact that he pulls it of... I think it's a pretty stunning piece of work. Honestly."' Can't wait to see it.


Pictures from Empire magazine.