When Heath Ledger tragically died several months ahead of the release of The Dark Knight, tabloid news outlets clung to the notion that Ledger had delved too deeply into his part as The Joker, and had essentially "become" the Clown Prince of Crime, confining himself to his room for weeks at a time to get into character. Though that's a creepy enough (if almost certainly untrue) suggestion, what's undeniably unsettling is the "Joker diary" that Ledger kept during production on the film, which his father Kim Ledger showed off for the first time in a documentary last year. The diary includes images of characters Ledger used for reference, such as Malcolm McDowell's Alex DeLarge from A Clockwork Orange, as well as scribblings of The Joker's dialogue, and most chillingly, the final page has the words "BYE BYE" written. Above all else, it's a monument to the ridiculous amount of effort Ledger put into portraying the character (which posthumously rewarded him with a Best Supporting Actor Oscar), though it's difficult not to separate the eerie relic from Ledger's tragic demise, and as an artifact of what he was working on in his final months, it's absolutely chilling.
Stay at home dad who spends as much time teaching his kids the merits of Martin Scorsese as possible (against the missus' wishes).
General video game, TV and film nut. Occasional sports fan. Full time loon.
