3. Heath Ledger
Much like James Dean, the role that Heath Ledger was seen to occupy at the time of his death has defined his career. Of course the movie he was actually making at the time was The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, but the role which will define him is that of The Joker in The Dark Knight. Yet initial reaction to his casting was far from positive. Though he had been in a number of good films, as far as the fan boys were concerned he was the gay cowboy from that Shakespeare rom-com and he couldnt possibly live up to the performance of the legendary Jack Nicholson. Though Ledger would prove these people wrong, there is probably a strong argument to be made that he deserved more respect in the first place considering his back catalogue of performances. Ok so 10 Things I Hate About You and A Knights Tale arent exactly Oscar bait, but they were fun for what they were. It is important to note these arent the only movies he was in before The Dark Knight. Of course there is the aforementioned mentioned gay cowboy movie- Brokeback Mountain- which personal taste not withstanding is a very good film and a great performance from Ledger. His credits, including a role in Monster's Ball make it clear that Heath Ledger wasnt the no-body he was treated as, upon his casting in The Dark Knight. His performance as the clown prince of crime was perfect, the whole movie hinges on him and he brings it in every scene that he is in. So many people were waiting for him to fail and he didnt, it is just a shame that he couldnt live to see it. Ledger died nearly six months before the release of The Dark Knight; he had completed his work in that film but not Terry Gilliams Doctor Parnassus, which would be completed with the help of Johnny Depp, Jude Law and Colin Farrell. Heath Ledger won a posthumous Oscar for his performance as The Joker.