Ledger "Urged To Seek Help" During Batman Filming (1 Viewer)

[Optimus Prime]

Actors play evil, dark psychotic characters all the time. i don't recall this much analysis when anthony hopkins played hannibal lecter or when jack nicholson first played the joker for that matter.

they both are still alive though.

and unless I'm mistaken, ledger finished filming months before his death.

everything i've heard says that the film and ledger are incredible

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Late actor Heath Ledger was reportedly urged to seek psychiatric help during the filming of new Batman movie The Dark Knight. The Brokeback Mountain star played the caped crusader's nemesis The Joker in the film, which wrapped at the end of 2007 - just weeks before Ledger was found dead from a drugs overdose in his New York apartment in January. And the tragic star reportedly became so involved with the character he was playing, it affected his mood, sleeping patterns and relationships with other cast members. Fox News reports that Ledger was warned not to let the movie take over his life and was pressed to seek counseling. A source tells the broadcaster, "Heath refused to talk to anyone out of character. If you tried to communicate with him normally instead of The Joker, he would just ignore you. He would often come to the set to hang out even on his days off, freaking everyone out. Towards the end of filming, he was warned by people that he had gone too far, but it was almost like he couldn't connect with those who cared for him anymore."


Movie TV News @ IMDb.com - WENN - 17 April 2008

 

[Rich Jr]

I bet it's also the best performance he's ever done. Just saying..

 

[Thorin]

Wow, he really was a confused dude.

 

[obwhiteo]

they were saying all of this on CNN months ago, as they SHOWED them wheel his dead body out of the apartment on a strecther, which i thought was WAYYY too much information.... i bet this movie will be insanely good...i can't wait....too bad that it was his last role, but hopefully this helps him shed the "ain't that the dude from brokeback" maybe now people will say "wasn't he the joker in the most bad-ars batman movie ever made"

 

[Rich Jr]

they were saying all of this on CNN months ago, as they SHOWED them wheel his dead body out of the apartment on a strecther, which i thought was WAYYY too much information.... i bet this movie will be insanely good...i can't wait....too bad that it was his last role, but hopefully this helps him shed the "ain't that the dude from brokeback" maybe now people will say "wasn't he the joker in the most bad-ars batman movie ever made"

He'll be the best joker ever.

 

[blasian]

I remember them saying something about Jack Nicholson "warned" Ledger about playing the Joker although it didn't appear that he explained why.

 

[3Alarm]

I think Jack Nicholson said somthing like, "don't do it kid, that part will kill your career." Sorry, couldn't help myself.

 

[Saintman2884]

I talked to a buddy of mine who follows comic books and he had some inside information on this movie. He told me that Heath really put too much into this part and that after working so hard to get it, took a huge toll on him. He did not expect it to be the part he anticipated. Because this Joker is much more then just the Jack Nicholson Joker, this is a different type of part then we expect from the Joker. He is a pathological murderer who is a mix of Ted Bundy and heartless criminal. He has no empathy and no mercy for anyone and that, according to my friend, bothered Ledger. He did not like the part of researching the type of person Joker is and what he would be like in this role. He said it drove Ledger wild to understand this guy's logic and for that it killed him.


so if you see the Joker in this upcoming movie Batman series, maybe the best thing to be said is that Heath played the Joker too well. He played the part too well and became too involved with his role. and with that role, it will ruin you if you do not watch it.

Sad story any way you look at it.

 

[domedog316]

I talked to a buddy of mine who follows comic books and he had some inside information on this movie. He told me that Heath really put too much into this part and that after working so hard to get it, took a huge toll on him. He did not expect it to be the part he anticipated. Because this Joker is much more then just the Jack Nicholson Joker, this is a different type of part then we expect from the Joker. He is a pathological murderer who is a mix of Ted Bundy and heartless criminal. He has no empathy and no mercy for anyone and that, according to my friend, bothered Ledger. He did not like the part of researching the type of person Joker is and what he would be like in this role. He said it drove Ledger wild to understand this guy's logic and for that it killed him.


so if you see the Joker in this upcoming movie Batman series, maybe the best thing to be said is that Heath played the Joker too well. He played the part too well and became too involved with his role. and with that role, it will ruin you if you do not watch it.

Sad story any way you look at it.

Didn't he just accidentally OD? I mean, we may never know for sure but It's not like playing the joker got so into his head that he decided to end it all by taking pills....right? maybe he got a touch of insomnia.....but lots of folks do and they aren't accidentally OD'ing.

The media is clinging to this story to sell papers and to get website hits.

 

[cruize]

Or maybe it was all the drugs he was taking.

 

[bclemms]

Didn't he just accidentally OD? I mean, we may never know for sure but It's not like playing the joker got so into his head that he decided to end it all by taking pills....right? maybe he got a touch of insomnia.....but lots of folks do and they aren't accidentally OD'ing.

The media is clinging to this story to sell papers and to get website hits.

There is no such thing as an accidental overdose. Either it was suicide (intentionally tried to kill himself by taking a lot of drugs) or it was an overdose (took too much of a drug while abusing it). Accidental overdose is a word used by estate attorneys and PR people while attempting to make the situation sound better.

 

[killah]

There is no such thing as an accidental overdose. Either it was suicide (intentionally tried to kill himself by taking a lot of drugs) or it was an overdose (took too much of a drug while abusing it). Accidental overdose is a word used by estate attorneys and PR people while attempting to make the situation sound better.

So your saying he meant to kill himself?

 

[bclemms]

So your saying he meant to kill himself?

Nope, I am not saying it was a suicide. I am saying either it was a suicide or an overdose.

 

[Rich Jr]

Or maybe it was all the drugs he was taking.

Yeah, all the prescriptions that were given to him for all the conditions he had.

 

[bclemms]

Yeah, all the prescriptions that were given to him for all the conditions he had.

Yeah, it isn't uncommon for 28 year olds to get scripts for Oxy, Valium, Xanax, Restoril and Vicodin. It is only by pure chance that if there was a top ten most abused drugs list all of them would be on there with exception of maybe Restoril which isn't as common as valium or xanax. Just pure chance again that he combined multiple pain killers and multiple benzos. Dude was junkin it up and died. His overdose was no different than if a junkie died with a needle in his arm. Sure, it was sad and maybe he was just trying to feel good but when you take handfuls of the more powerful drugs on the market it isn't on accident. He didn't slip and have those drugs fall in his mouth. Dude pushed the partying too far.