20 Mind-Blowing Facts About The Dark Knight Trilogy
18. Heath Ledger Designed The Joker's Look And Kept A "Joker Journal"
Many actors turn up on set, have their make-up and prosthetics applied (if the part calls for it), and simply get to work. Heath Ledger's role in creating The Joker's look was far more collaborative though.
He took an active role in the design, experimenting with different looks before he and Nolan settled on the final version. They were generally inspired by Francis Bacon paintings, and added the red to the scars to give an impression of the smile and the black and white to make him look like what they've since described as a "ragged clown".
After deciding on the right appearance for the iconic villain, Ledger went to extreme measure to prepare, including locking himself up in a hotel room and keeping a diary of The Jokers thoughts. For example, he jotted down the fact that he believed the character would find topics such as AIDS and land mines extremely amusing..