©Sony Pictures/Courtesy Everett Collection
Why so serious?
Heath Ledger had just wrapped playing The Joker in 2008’s “The Dark Knight” when he moved on to work with Andrew Garfield in “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus” — and he knew the DC Comics film would be a success.
“He had just done the ‘Joker,’ he had just finished doing ‘The Dark Knight,’ and he was so smug about it,” Garfield, 41, recalled during a recent interview on the “Happy Sad Confused” podcast. “I was like, ‘How did that go?’ and he was like, ‘Yeah, it’s really good.’”
Ledger had already worked in blockbuster hits such as “10 Things I Hate About You” (1999), “A Knight’s Tale” (2001) and “Brokeback Mountain” (2005).
“I remember his like, Empire magazine cover came out and he was like, ‘Oh, they used a f–king s–t photo,’” Garfield shared to MTV’s Josh Horowitz. “And I was like, ‘Are you kidding me, dude that looks f–king incredible.’ And he was like, ‘Nah, the pose is all wrong, it looks kinda like a conventional version of what an actor … you’ll see.’ And yeah, I did see.”
The Christopher Nolan-directed drama also starred Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne/Batman, Aaron Eckhart, Michael Caine, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Gary Oldman, Morgan Freeman and Cillian Murphy.
“The Dark Knight” would go on to debut in theaters in July 2008, six months after the tragic death of Ledger. The Australian native was found dead in his Manhattan apartment at age 28 on Jan. 22, 2008. His death was ruled an accidental drug overdose and attributed to a lethal mix of prescription medications.
Ledger earned multiple posthumous accolades, and won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. His family accepted the Oscar for him and gave a moving and emotional speech at the ceremony.
“He was a kind of beacon, it was like a wild animal,” Garfield told Horowitz. “He was so free and so wild and so, kind of dangerous on set in a way that was the kind of thing that is inspiring and spontaneous. He would say before every take, or one take every scene, ‘Let’s have some fun with this one.’”
“I still have lots of mementos of his,” he continued. “I remember the first day I met him he was wearing these amazing camo Ray Ban sunglasses and I just said, ‘Oh hey, cool sunglasses.’ And the next day they were like in my dressing room, he had just left them for me. He was just a very generous, beautiful, creative spirit.”
Ledger had a daughter Matilda, now 18, with his “Brokeback Mountain” co-star Michelle Williams. The “Dawson’s Creek” alum, 44, recently revealed that Matilda started college.
In 2022, Williams spoke out on how friend and fellow actor Jeremy Strong stepped in to help her following Ledger’s passing.
“Jeremy was serious enough to hold the weight of a child’s broken heart and sensitive enough to understand how to approach her through play and games and silliness,” she told Variety of the “Succession” alum.
“[Matilda] didn’t grow up with her father, but she grew up with her Jeremy and we were changed by his ability to play as though his life depended upon it,” she added.
“We’ve watched him work harder than anyone and wait a long time for the people to recognize it,” she noted of his success. “So when he became so celebrated, we all celebrated.”