9 Movie Scenes You Didn't Know Had A Guest Director
1. The Batman Impersonators - The Dark Knight
It’s well documented that Heath Ledger got very into his role as the Joker, and this is just one in a long, long line of examples of that. Thankfully for his co stars though, this didn’t extend to sending them boxes of dead rats, as Jared Leto is rumoured to have done to Margot Robbie.
Similar to the wig commercial in Goodfellas, Joker’s video of the kidnapped Batman impersonators needed to have a different tone and style to the rest of the movie. In the classic drama tradition, they’re essentially a play within a play.
While the wig advert needed to look a bit rubbish though, Joker’s message needed to be unhinged.
That’s when Nolan’s cinematographer and frequent collaborator Wally Pfister had the idea to let Ledger have a go. Nolan agreed and, once Pfister had set up the lights, Nolan handed the camera over to Ledger.
Nolan was still on set, but with an uncharacteristic hands off approach. He allowed Ledger to shoot the scene in a variety of ways until Ledger was satisfied, and together they chose the best one for the movie’s final cut.