10 Debunked Movie Myths You Totally Believe

This one hurts. Whilst most love and believe the story that the late, great Heath Ledger improvised this iconic scene, it's just not a true story.

When the Joker leaves the hospital and begins to blow it up (dressed in a nurse's outfit and sporting an hysterical but terrifying walk), the final big explosion doesn't go off. Ledger stays in character, fiddles with the detonator in order to get the shot right, and is then thrown off when the final boom kicks into gear.

This entire sequence is often attributed to Ledger's improvisation; that the cast and crew only had one chance to get the scene on film, and that when it seemed to be going wrong the actor kept going so the stunt wouldn't be ruined.

According to director Christopher Nolan, this is (unfortunately) not how it happened. Rather, the pause before the final explosion was purposefully put in place by Nolan in order to keep Ledger safe and throw off the audiences. Everyone involved was aware of what was going on, and it actually took a long time to plan.

So, despite being an awesome bit of trivia, Heath Ledger was not fully responsible for the scene's excellence, but that definitely doesn't take away from how amazing he was in the film.