A clip released from the recent I Am Heath Ledger documentary shows the late, great actor channeling his portrayal of the Joker for Christopher Nolan’s comic book opus, The Dark Knight.
Unveiled via JoBlo, the 9-minute promo features archived footage of Heath Ledger slipping into the iconic role, while there’s also an interview with Steve Alexander, Ledger’s former agent, about the time when he accepted that by-now famous gig as DC’s Clown Prince of Crime.
It’s a heartfelt and poignant tribute to the actor, who passed away almost a decade ago. Here, Alexander remembers the phone call he made to Heath Ledger about the vacant Joker role, and how he accepted it without a second’s hesitation.
I called Heath and I said, ‘This is what’s happening. They’re putting together the next Batman movie and the Joker’s going to be the villain and is that of interest?’ There was no pause. It was like, ‘Absolutely, I want that. What do we do? I’ll get on a plane, I’ll fly out, I want to meet with Chris. Can you get me in a room with Chris Nolan?’
A little later in the clip, the focus then shifts to Heath Ledger himself, who recalls his experience playing the Joker under the watchful eye of Christopher Nolan.
I’d already seen this world he’d created in Batman Begins, so I knew there was an opportunity for a new version of the Joker and that excited me and also I knew instantly what to do. I locked myself away for six weeks in a room, and I kind of came up with this creep. Walking around like a madman and finding posture, finding stance, finding his voice was very important. When you find the voice, you find the breath within the voice.
Word is Christoper Nolan planned to incorporate a Joker cameo into The Dark Knight Rises, too, before Heath Ledger tragically died in January of 2008 due to an accidental overdose from prescription drugs. His crazed, deeply arresting performance in The Dark Knight earned him the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor posthumously, and many still consider his rendition of Gotham’s Clown Prince of Crime to be among the very best.
I Am Heath Ledger initially premiered back in May.
