Heath Ledger dead at 28

By Matt Holmes / June 25, 2011

Heath Ledger was found dead from a suspected overdose at his Manhatten Apartment at 2pm on Tuesday. He was just 28. Sad, horrible, sickening news which I had to re-read four times before it sunk in. Ledger was an actor who was nowhere near at the peak of his talent, another tragic career cut way too short. If there was one performance I was anticipating and constantly talking about to people who would care to listen it was his upcoming role as The Joker, possibly the biggest part any actor could land in a blockbuster movie. From the trailers and the prologue we have seen to the film, and the constant praise from those involved including Michael Caine, Christopher Nolan and Christian Bale... his performance was set to be legendary. I called it a Lon Chaney like-triumph. The kind of role where you physically and mentally give yourself up to and create the kind of monster that we have never seen before but are soon and forever intended into our psyche. Karloff's Frankenstein, Legosi's Dracula and it was building up as if we were going to be talking about Ledger's Joker in the same breath. Ledger's take on the character looked monstrous, sinister and the complete opposite of the "Smiling" Jack from Tim Burton's Batman. It may be called The Dark Knight but The Joker was character was clearly the face of this film...

Ledger, a critically acclaimed and extremely popular actor who only three years ago hit the heavy heights of the Hollywood ladder with a Best Actor Academy Award Nomination for his homosexual character in Brokeback Mountain, a role in the 'cowboy gay movie' I remember some critics saying would kill Ledger's failing career. That certainly proved to be false. Ledger was quickly turned into a legit star and whether he liked it or not he was now constantly in the limelight, especially after finding the love of his life, fellow actress Michelle Williams on that very set. The couple were no longer together at the time of Ledger's death having split up in 2006 but they do have a daughter together. Though even after the stardom of Brokeback Mountain, Ledger still would keep up his reputation for taking risky Indie roles. His segment in the Bob Dylan movie I'm Not There last year, the only performance (except Blanchett's) that felt like it came from a true star.

Ledger's small movie credits would include the drama's Casanova and Candy where he certainly looked more comfortable than he did in action or fantasy epics like The Brothers Grimm. A leading role in A Knights Tale was an early attempt to make Ledger a star in 2000 (at the young age of 21), a massive $65 million budgeted film which was promoted on Ledger's name alone became something of a box office disappointment. Ledger's performance was ok but the attempt to make him the next Tom Cruise was too obvious at that early age and his nothing role was over shadowed by co-star Paul Bettany. Barely 20 years old, Ledger landed his first movie role in the teen comedy 10 Things I Hate About You and then soon after with the crime drama Two Hands in his homeland of Australia for Gregor Jordan. One thing that was evident in his early career was this young guy's confidence which was well beyond his years. Only a year later did his break come with a major role as Mel Gibson's son in The Patriot where he went toe-to-toe with his Aussie counterpart. His confidence was growing with each performance and although he was off the Hollywood radar after A Knight's Tale, that's where he truly gained his chops and it help shake him into one of the most promising young male actors on our screen who we were expecting to see on screens for many, many years to come.

Not from memory can I remember any actor who had just completed a movie the size of The Dark Knight, who dies so soon after filming and when the movie is just in post-production. The only one maybe is Oliver Reed in Gladiator but his role wasn't as big in that epic and of course he wasn't at the height of his career, and that wasn't even the limit that Ledger could have reached. How this effects the July release of The Dark Knight I'm not sure. The film had moved into post-production and Christopher Nolan and his crew were now working on putting the film together with all the footage that had been shot. It looks as if Ledger had completed everything at this point that he was needed for. Here is the official statement from Warner Brothers regarding this tragic news...

"The studio is stunned and devastated by this tragic news. The entertainment community has lost an enormous talent. Heath was a brilliant actor and an exceptional person. Our hearts go out to his family and friends."

Doubts now turn to Terry Gilliam'sThe Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus which Ledger was currently shooting the lead role for. That movie saw Ledger at the hands of a weird carnival and their macabre antics. That film will almost undoubtedly be effected, most likely scrapped depending on how much has been filmed. Though one film it shouldn't effect is Terrence Malik's film The Tree of Life which Ledger was originally set to star alongside Sean Penn, but dropped out after scheduling conflicts with Gilliam's movie and was soon replaced with Brad Pitt. That film should not suffer from any delays, despite what some news outlets are reporting. I am set to travel to London for a few days early tomorrow morning and I was going to take my laptop to update. I'm not so sure I wanna do that now, I don't really feel like talking about the latest movie news. This is a sad day, the saddest story I have had to write. It's taken me two hours to type this whilst Sky News here in the U.K. go through the awful details and far too much celebrity gossip. So for that reason, I might not put the effort in (and it would be awkward to be truthful) to take my laptop and update... so if I'm quiet for a few days then that this is why. It's 1.36am here in the U.K. and I'm not going to be able to sleep. You might see me updating in the morning if I can't sleep. Sorry if this article seems muddled, mixed up or whatever... I did my best. Our thoughts are with Heath Ledger and his friends and family.