Charisma as Natural as Gravity (Batman Director on Ledger's Death)

Newsweek ^ | 2-4-08 | Chris Nolan

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Best known for his haunting, Oscar-nominated performance as Ennis Del Mar, one of the gay cowboys in 2005 ' s "Brokeback Mountain," Ledger was a massive young talent on the cusp of greatness when he died last week in New York. The native Australian, who is survived by his 2-year-old daughter, Matilda, had recently finished work on this summer's "Batman" sequel, "The Dark Knight," in which he plays a villain, the Joker. Christopher Nolan, the film's director, shared these memories:

One night, as I'm standing on LaSalle Street in Chicago, trying to line up a shot for "The Dark Knight," a production assistant skateboards into my line of sight. Silently, I curse the moment that Heath first skated onto our set in full character makeup. I'd fretted about the reaction of Batman fans to a skateboarding Joker, but the actual result was a proliferation of skateboards among the younger crew members. If you'd asked those kids why they had chosen to bring their boards to work, they would have answered honestly that they didn't know. That's real charisma—as invisible and natural as gravity. That's what Heath had.

Heath was bursting with creativity. It was in his every gesture. He once told me that he liked to wait between jobs until he was creatively hungry. Until he needed it again. He brought that attitude to our set every day. There aren't many actors who can make you feel ashamed of how often you complain about doing the best job in the world. Heath was one of them.

One time he and another actor were shooting a complex scene. We had two days to shoot it, and at the end of the first day, they'd really found something and Heath was worried that he might not have it if we stopped. He wanted to carry on and finish. It's tough to ask the crew to work late when we all know there's plenty of time to finish the next day. But everyone seemed to understand that Heath had something special and that we had to capture it before it disappeared. Months later, I learned that as Heath left the set that night, he quietly thanked each crew member for working late. Quietly. Not trying to make a point, just grateful for the chance to create that they'd given him.

Those nights on the streets of Chicago were filled with stunts. These can be boring times for an actor, but Heath was fascinated, eagerly accepting our invitation to ride in the camera car as we chased vehicles through movie traffic—not just for the thrill ride, but to be a part of it. Of everything. He'd brought his laptop along in the car, and we had a high-speed screening of two of his works-in-progress: short films he'd made that were exciting and haunting. Their exuberance made me feel jaded and leaden. I've never felt as old as I did watching Heath explore his talents. That night I made him an offer—knowing he wouldn't take me up on it—that he should feel free to come by the set when he had a night off so he could see what we were up to.

When you get into the edit suite after shooting a movie, you feel a responsibility to an actor who has trusted you, and Heath gave us everything. As we started my cut, I would wonder about each take we chose, each trim we made. I would visualize the screening where we'd have to show him the finished film—sitting three or four rows behind him, watching the movements of his head for clues to what he was thinking about what we'd done with all that he'd given us. Now that screening will never be real. I see him every day in my edit suite. I study his face, his voice. And I miss him terribly.

Back on LaSalle Street, I turn to my assistant director and I tell him to clear the skateboarding kid out of my line of sight when I realize—it's Heath, woolly hat pulled low over his eyes, here on his night off to take me up on my offer. I can't help but smile.

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Chris Nolan is a classy guy. Very lovely tribute. I loved how he reflected on the man's life rather than his death.

Gary Oldman (who plays Commissioner Gordon) also talked a bit about working with Heath Ledger on the Steve Jones Radio Show. You can listen to it here.

[Froufrou]

Thanks for sharing. BTW, Oldman is a good conservative, by Hollywood standards.

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Hope no one minds me posting this, but it's helped me deal with my own feelings on Heath Ledger's death. There's nothing like seeing someone so young and full of promise go like this to remind us of our own mortality.

But Ledger played a character that's near and dear to any Batman fan, and from what we've all read and heard, he treated the Joker role with respect. He could have done what any Hollywood actor would have done and said "Oh, hey! I get to be like Jack Nicholson and put on clown clothes and shoot at Batman!" Instead, he actually delved into the mythos, studied and read the comic books, and from everything we've heard, delivered a stellar performance that made the character his own. For this, I salute him!

We'll have to wait till July 18 to see The Dark Knight's Joker on-screen, but till then, I created this little memorial/tribute to the character and the man who played him.

R.I.P., Heath Ledger!

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Is he really? I didn’t know that.

[Froufrou]

Gary Sinise and Bruce Willis, too.

[Froufrou]

http://www.celebpolitics.com/actors_top_25_conservative.php

I think this link is more up-to-date.

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Yeah, I knew about them. But Oldman I didn’t know.

Thanks for the link...interesting stuff.

[Mr. Blonde]

It is truly a shame to see someone who had so much talent go so soon. Especially when he had just reached the point to really show us what he had. He had come a long way from 10 Things I Hate About You. It would have been nice to see where he was headed after this.

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I know. He was really breaking out. And it’s also a shame that he left a young daughter behind.

Not to be superficial, but one thing I really hate is that Ledger will never get to see “The Dark Knight.” I remember him talking in interviews about how excited he was to have part of it, and what a great film it was going to be.

But in the end, as excited as I’ve been about the movie, it seems a little less important now.

[Fledermaus]

Thanks for the post. I’ve been out of the loop for a while. I was stunned. It’s always hard to hear of someone so young dying a needless death.

I hope Nolan now thinks differently about the film as he edits the final cut. I think he’ll have a lot of fans of Batman and Ledger wanting more and plenty of others that will watch for the first time. No reason to let studio execs make time decisions for more screens and money and then give us a “directors cut” on DVD.

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Thanks for posting, Fledermaus. Obviously Batman news is going to be slow for a long time, as Ledger's death has kind of put a damper on things for a while.

I hope Nolan now thinks differently about the film as he edits the final cut. I think he’ll have a lot of fans of Batman and Ledger wanting more and plenty of others that will watch for the first time. No reason to let studio execs make time decisions for more screens and money and then give us a “directors cut” on DVD.

I totally agree. While Nolan doesn't usually do Director's Cuts, this would be a good idea (although I have heard rumors that their may be a Batman Begins Limited Edition Director's Cut coming soon).

Thing is, I think seeing as much of his performance as possible is what Ledger would have wanted. I believe he'd want us to see as much of it as possible, especially considering how much passion and work he showed for it.