‘One of the Worst Casts of All Time’: Heath Ledger in Joker? No one believed it except Christopher Nolan

Just 15 years ago, The Dark Knight hit the screens. Considered by many to be the best superhero movie of all time, Christopher Nolan’s iconic feature film was an overwhelming success, first time wowing the masses. However, as Espinof and FilmStarts recall, things were not so clear before its release, especially when Internet users learned that the director had chosen Heath Ledger to play the famous Joker.

When the news broke online, many Batman fans expressed their anger, both because they thought other actors were up for the role – Crispin Glover was much talked about, Paul Bettany was also a favorite – and especially because of their disgust. Heath Ledger. At the time, the actor had just received an Oscar nomination for his performance in The Secret of Brokeback Mountain, a film that internet users would link to and use against him. Before that, he was known for his role in the teen comedy 10 Reasons to Dump You, so playing the iconic DC villain was a drastic departure from his image, and the reactions were harsher…

As proof, in 2012 a Reddit user shared a screenshot, which then revealed many negative comments mentioning: “We were all so wrong!“may specifically read:”Heath Ledger, really??“or”Are you kidding?Others simply called the cast “terrible” and said they hadn’t seen the movie. And of course his role Humped mountain It is noted: the user writes without homophobic nuances that he even expects Joker to “sleep” with Batman in the movie.

Not only the fans had doubts…

And suspicions went beyond fans of the network, because Jonathan Nolan himself, the screenwriter of the film, admitted years later that neither he nor the studio understood why brother Christopher was chosen. Heath Ledger. In a 2018 interview with The Hollywood Reporter, he said:

When I wrote The Dark Knight, Chris had to figure out how we were going to approach the Joker. He had a good date with Heath Ledger. And no one understood – I didn’t understand, the studio didn’t understand. And the fan community was… we were bullied for it. ‘Disaster, worst casting decision ever!’ Chris stood his ground. It was about giving the fans not what they’re asking for, but what they want — which is, “Let’s find a really serious actor to come in and destroy this role.”

return the situation

But already on the set everything becomes clearer and Heath Ledger His co-stars were particularly impressed, including William Fichtner, who plays him in the film, which we recently met at the Hypnotic launch in Cannes, and which returns to this theme.

“I didn’t know Christopher Nolan before I did The Dark Knight. He was a good friend of my friend. And so I ended up meeting him. He explained the scene to me, warned me that it was a unique scene, early in the film, and I’m such a fan of his work that I got it without reading the sequence. But the one I’ll always remember is the first day of filming with the Joker, when Heath Ledger showed up. I’m a fan of other actors, especially people who really find character. And I remember Heath quietly listening to his music in his corner. Then we shot the first picture and I remember thinking to myself, looking from one actor to the other, “Wow, I really like what this guy is doing!”“

Next comes the posting of the first image Heath Ledger In the skin of the Joker, which causes some uncertainty: some start to review their copy, others do not know what to think. But all doubts are dispelled when the first trailer is released Dark Knight Released at the end of 2017.

Unfortunately, Heath Ledger He died in January 2018 at the age of 28, and therefore did not get the chance to see his work received unanimous applause and an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor. and as we all know Dark Knight It took over theaters to the point where it is still on the list of the highest grossing movies of all time.

The Dark Knight, Le Chevalier Noir is available on Netflix and Amazon Prime Video.