Heath Ledger Died

[BarTopDancer]

Originally Posted by Disneyphile

I wish the press would just back off of celebs when they're going through depression and whatnot. Let them get the help they need, because they're people just like the rest of us. I think that's what sways some of them from getting treatment and help - because the press always has a field day with it.

Bingo. It took what seems like forever for the press and media to leave several current celebrities alone so they could complete rehab. And they still hounded the facility and took photos of them on outings.

[Jazzman]

Such a shocking and terrible loss to the world of film. I always thought he seemed kind of odd but I greatly enjoyed his acting and even in films that I didn't enjoy much I appreciated his performances and ability.

I truly hope that this was simply a tragic accident and not suicide or drug overdose. Those are both such selfish paths and I'd hate to find out that he went that way. My heart goes out to his daughter. Losing a father so young... How awful.

R.I.P.

[Gemini Cricket]

I thought this was a nice write up at EW.com:

Remembering Heath Ledger
by Gary Susman

Like you, the folks here at EW HQ thought it was a cruel hoax when reports started surfacing this afternoon that Heath Ledger was dead at 28, the second promising young star in less than a week to die. The exact cause and circumstances surrounding his death are still unknown, but we can only hope that the performer will be remembered mainly for his all-too-brief but triumphant acting career.
Most fans will remember Ledger for his Oscar-nominated turn in Brokeback Mountain (pictured), as well they should. His role marks one of the great, astonishing acting transformations of our time. I loved Ledger's early, lighter work — his goofy romantic lead in the teen-Shakespeare farce 10 Things I Hate About You, his sly, tongue-in-cheek turn as a medieval sports hero in A Knight's Tale — and I even enjoyed his dramatic posturing as the callow rebel of The Patriot and the resentful son of Monster's Ball. But I'd never have guessed that he had that Brokeback performance in him. From his slow gait to his swallowed baritone speech, his lonesome cowpoke Ennis seemed like a brand new person, yet one the actor fully inhabited. Indeed, it's now impossible to imagine that any of his contemporaries could have done a better job, so indelible is Ledger's performance. And who didn't cry at the end when he said, "Jack, I swear..."?
After Brokeback, Ledger's characters began to take a darker turn. There was the drug-addiction drama Candy, which I fear I'll never be able to watch again without cringing, and his forthcoming turn as a bedraggled, scary-looking Joker in this summer's Batman Begins sequel The Dark Knight. I'm sure no one will be able to watch that one either without seeing unintended ironies and eerie portents of doom. It's always facile to read an actor's off-screen life into his choice of roles (if you saw Ledger's depiction of Bob Dylan's crumbling marriage in the recent I'm Not There, you could be forgiven for being reminded of the recent dissolution of Ledger's off-screen union with Michelle Williams), but still, for now, I prefer to remember the jokey, cheerful, cheeseball Ledger of Knight's Tale and 10 Things, movies enhanced by the sense they conveyed that Ledger was thoroughly enjoying himself. It'll be a while before I can watch Brokeback again without getting misty-eyed for the wrong reason.

[Jazzman]

Thanks for sharing GC. That really is a nice write-up. I'm somewhat embarrassed to admit, but Knight's Tale has always been my favorite Ledger role. It was just good, clean fun and made me laugh and smile. I agree with the writer about Batman. I'm sure most of us will be looking at the Joker and trying to pick out which bits are the character and which are Heath.

So tragic and such a waste.

[Bornieo: Fully Loaded]

I agree with Jazzman. But, I've yet to see anything I've liked him in. Dark Knight I was looking forward to seeing him in. Oh well.

[lashbear]

Originally Posted by Bornieo: Fully Loaded

I agree with Jazzman. But, I've yet to see anything I've liked him in. Dark Knight I was looking forward to seeing him in. Oh well.

I'm hoping they're still going to release it.

I'm very sad at how young he was...

[innerSpaceman]

Oh, I'm sure it will be released. I hope they handle it tastefully, but this widely anticipated role just got 17 times more widely anticipated.


The bits I've seen of him as the Joker, btw, are intense and creepy in the extreme. I'm afraid the film and the role are going to take on unintended significance and a layer of meaning that was never there when the film was written or shot.

I hope that doesn't cloud the issue of what I expect will be one of Heath Ledger's best performances.

[Alex]

Terry Gilliam must be wondering what he did to piss off the movie making gods.

[innerSpaceman]

Boy, I'll say.

Um, I don't keep up with this stuff ... so what was the Terry Gilliam project that Heath Ledger was (till now) involved with?




Poor Mr. Gilliam. Everything's sucked for him, moviewise, for a long, long, long .... long time.

Such promise, too.




Maybe a double feature of Brokeback Mountain and Brazil will be fitting someday.

[Gemini Cricket]

So, to get my grief on, I watched BBM tonight.
Still a masterpiece in my humble opinion.
I cried like a funeral goer peeing onions.

But I'm okay now.

Now I'm watching It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World.