Article:
Nolan Defends Ledger As Joker
Date:
10th October 2006
Contributor:
Bob Gough
Thanks for taking time to read the second instalment of CBM News: From The Archives.
I always think its interesting to look back at news stories from the past and look at how accurate they were when we look back now - this feature is really meant to get people thinking about how news is reported in a way that is usually as dramatic as possible - and sometimes entirely incorrect with the benefit of hindsight.
It is hard to imagine it now - but back when Heath Ledger was cast as The Joker - the majority of fans were not 100% sure that he was the right person for the job. And it wasn't just the fans - movie news sites across the globe took to their websites to voice their concerns.
Josh Tyler from Cinema Blend
Ledger seems spectacularly unsuited to the weirdness of The Joker, If you're casting Ledger in a Batman movie, I'd start by considering him for Robin, not the caped crusader's most lunatic villain.
What Culture
I hope Christopher Nolan knows what he is doing, and i guess i should give him a bit more credit. I love the guy’s work and us Batman fans will forever be greatful for re-starting the franchise last year after the diabacle that was the movie that shall not be named.
It’s certainly interesting casting, Ledger only being 27, 5 years younger than Christian Bale. Its funny, i never thought of the Joker being younger than Batman. This is certainly going to be different than Jack Nicholson’s portrayl of the Joker (which is a good thing, that Joker wouldnt work in the more realistic Nolanized Gotham).
I think the reason for most of this shock was because in the years running up to being cast, Ledger had gone from starring in mainstream films like
A Knight's Tale to starring in Oscar season films like
Brokeback Mountain and
I'm Not There and initially fans were a little worried that an actor like Ledger would be able to translate The Joker into Nolans universe. Here is the article from ComicBookMovie.com that's inspired this feature:
Nolan Defends Ledger as Joker
Fans bristle at the thought of an actor who hates comics playing their beloved Clown Prince of Crime in The Dark Knight, but the film's director says Ledger is perfect. Plus, Two-Face talk...
Christopher Nolan, director of The Dark Knight Batman sequel, defended his choice of Heath Ledger as the Joker in the film.
"He's just exactly the kind of energy I needed for the character," Nolan told Sci Fi Wire. "Everything about the risks that that performer is willing to take are the things I need for somebody to take on that iconic figure. It's going to be a huge challenge for us to create it, and he's exactly the guy you want to be in the trenches with."
Batman Begins ends with Batman and Lt. Gordon discussing the emergence of a new criminal called the Joker. The new movie picks up from that spot. "To be frank, I hadn't really thought about doing the sequel while we were doing the first one, but we wanted to end the first one with a sense of possibility," Nolan told Sci Fi. "And, frankly, the dynamic of that scene and the sense of possibility that we tried to leave the audience with at the end of Batman Begins just stuck with me. And I felt it as much as I hope the audience did. So we really just want to carry on that story and see where it goes."
Christian Bale (Batman/Bruce Wayne), Michael Caine (Alfred), Morgan Freeman (Lucius Fox) and Gary Oldman (Lt. James Gordon) will reprise their roles. There's been no talk of Katie Holmes returning. The sequel premieres in 2008.
Meanwhile, rumors continue to swirl around who will play Harvey Dent/Two-Face in the film, now that Nolan has confirmed the character is part of the script.
Jake Gyllenhaal (Ledger's co-star in Brokeback Mountain) has been added to the list of possibilities. But IGN Filmforce says Gyllenhaal is not in the running.
Ryan Phillippe, Liev Schreiber and Guy Pearce have also been mentioned. IGN says it confirmed Pearce won't be the D.A. turned criminal.
However, Phillippe's agents gave a no comment even though his publicist denied the rumor.
There are a few things that we take from this article that I find interesting. The first is that Nolan felt the need to come out and defend Ledger in the first place. An unusual step for someone who had just come out of making one the highest grossing comic book movies of all time with
Batman Begins. It seems that the 'fanboy' outrage had prompted Nolan into stepping out to defend Ledger. Can you imagine him doing that now? Coming out to defend his choice of Tom Hardy as Bane or Anne Hathaway as Selina Kyle aka Catwoman? I doubt it - even though some fans questioned Anne Hathaway, we accepted it - the reason is because we know what Ledger achieved.
But even Ledger knew he was an unusual choice for the role. In September 2006 he told
The Toronto Sun:
It's definitely going to stump people. I think it'll be more along the lines of how the Joker was meant to be in the comics, darker and more sinister. I wouldn't have thought of me, either. But it's obviously not going to be what Jack Nicholson did.
It's going to be more nuanced and dark and more along the lines of a Clockwork Orange kind of feel. Which is, I think, what the comic book was after: less about his laugh and more about his eyes.
Ledger had also made several comments about comic book movies which didn't help the situation. Speaking to
Hollywood Gossip in November 2008 he make the following statements which just added fuel to the 'fanboy' fire:
Have you read many Batman comics?
No and I think that's kind of helping me a little bit. I was never really a fan of comic books or comic book movies. I never despised them but I was never one to read them. I never sought out the films but I would sit down and enjoy them. So because of that I really feel that I'm not carrying much pressure.
Have you ever wanted to do superhero movies before?
Not really. With the tights and undies and the boots, I would just feel stupid and silly. I couldn't pull it off and there are other people who can perfectly. But I just couldn't take myself seriously. I feel like this is an opportunity to be in one and not do that. I just gravitated towards the villain role because I felt I had something to give to it. I instantly had an idea.
In conclusion were we right to be worried and question Heath Ledgers casting? No is the simple answer to that question - but yet we continued to do it right up until the release of the
The Dark Knight, which posthumously earned Ledger an Oscar...
Thanks for reading, if you have anything from the archives you would like me to look into - leave a comment below.