Heath Ledger, cast as the Joker in Chris Nolan's The Dark Knight follow up to Batman Begins, says he's got no love for the source material.
Talking with Dark Horizons on how his Oscar nomination has affected his career, Ledger said: "I think there's a new level of interest kind of thing but I haven't really acted on it, since the only thing I've really done since is this Todd Haynes film and The Joker."
Already a controversial choice, Ledger continued that ordinarily taking a part in a super-hero film wouldn't interest him. "I actually hate comic book movies, like f***ing hate them, they just bore me s***less and they're just dumb. But I thought what Chris Nolan did with Batman was actually really good, really well directed, and Christian Bale was really great in it."
Ledger says he's looking forward to playing a truly evil character. "He's going to be really sinister and it's going to be less about his laugh and his pranks and more about just him being a just a f***ing sinister guy."
However, his agent is happy with the money the role brings: "I'm sure they're super happy that I'm doing this, because this is the first time I've really kind of taken something like that, so they're over the moon. But I think it's just going to be a really fun experience, and I love to dress up and wear a mask."
No costumes have been designed, but Ledger says that "I've seen a few interesting designs on the look and I think that it's going to look pretty cool."
Ledger really doesn't know how to convince the weary fans that he'll do a good job, does he? lol I'm concerned about it, as I have been since day one. I trust Nolan, I trust Bale/Oldman/Freeman/Caine...I don't trust Ledger yet.
Gender: Male Location: Welfare Kingdom of California
I was worry something like this would happen. The ego of the actor interfering with the production. I really hope Nolan keeps discipline during the production. It would be a shame the sequel gets more attention because of an actors behaviour than for the production itself.
If his hearts not in it....... I hope Nolan knows what he is doing...... i saw the special features on begins DVD again last night and Nolan seems to have used inspiration from the comics rather than movies/tv so he knows what is successful. he is going to have to do it the way he wants and not what ledger wants
From those comments it only says that he hates comicbook MOVIES.Not comicbooks.Sounds like a smart guy to me because sadly most comicbook movies DO suck- The batman movies before batman begins are prime examples.Hollywood seldom ever stays loyal to the source material and finds ways to screw up the characters and be disloyal to the source material.From these comments Ledger sounds pretty smart to me.Nolan did do a great job of directing batman begins and was one of the few directors to actually make a great comicbook film that at the same time stayed loyal to the source material for the most part.
I'm pissed because now it's going to be some character calling himself the Joker, but being nothing like him. Plus, it will take attention away from the film like Katie Holmes did.
Gender: Male Location: A Pit filled with Green Bubbles. :O
damn, this is going to be bad. if the joker isn't done right im going to boycott all batman films forever. From what source did the interview come from? Link? Magazine?
__________________
"Where does he get those wonderful toys? " -- Joker
This all makes me laugh... I hate to admit it but it does.... because from the moment I heard Heath had the part I knew this was going to happen... but no one believed me... well its in writing now so, HAH!
Sorry... don't mean to be mean... its just a bit ironic is all....
Come on guys, i think that you all are going too far. Like mr parker said well, the only thing that Ledger said was that he hated the movies based on comics books, and loved batman begins and Nolan and Bale work in the movie. It sounds right for me. I think that Ledger is a very smart and intelligent person with a lot of talent and he could do a great job with the joker character.
And did you know what? Chris Reeve never read a superman comic book, and he was great. Gary oldman the same , and he was a great gordon. So ,Ledger saying that he hated comic books MOVIES not comic books doesnt mean anthing.
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John Lennon, Musical genius of all time
Helen Mirren and Julie Christie , most lovely british actresses of all time.
Gender: Male Location: Welfare Kingdom of California
Big difference between never read a comic book and actually saying this:
Which could be a challenge for a director like Nolan to work....Nolan loves comic books. However, if Ledger is the true actor he claims to be he'll put that hatred aside and work with Nolan. Otherwise he can hit the road.
Lets see, when an actor said that he never read a comic book, he doesnt have any idea about the source origin, but with the director and the scripter help and his own talent and intuition could do a great job.
In the other hand, when ledger said that he hates comic books? Because in his interviews, he said he hated the movies based on comic books, no the comic books itself.
__________________ The beatles, best group ever.
John Lennon, Musical genius of all time
Helen Mirren and Julie Christie , most lovely british actresses of all time.
He should have chosen his words better or further elaborated. Telling an audience that questions his abilities to pull off the character that a) he wants it to be something we've never seen before, b) it's not about his laugh, its about his eyes, and the c) that he "F*CKING" hates comic book movies (not even just hates - and you know how rare it is to see a curse in an interview, let alone the big gun and my fav of them all lol)....that's like someone getting the role of Captain America and saying "I see him more at odds with his duties than he is in the comic. I mean, I don't need to make him heroic, right? Plus I hate America." Haha.
Actually I don't think he even did a good job as a "gay guy" in Brokeback Mountain... it just wasn't that good a movie if ya ask me... didn't deserve half the recognition it got award-wise....
But I just can't picture him as the Joker at all, has nothing to do with the roles he's done previously, I just can't picture him as the Joker... and his comments in that interview only further my suspicions about him not being a good Joker.... but we will have to see I suppose........
One person, if big enough, can totally screw up a movie. If the writer wrote a piece of garbage, no director or actor can make it good. If you have someone with a terrible, wretched performance, it can overshadow the movie and make it stupid. If the director is horrible or the producers (cough*Schumacher*cough), it suffers gravely as well. Films need to be harmonized...they aren't legos where you just stack up certain things and it all fits in perfectly...let's just hope Ledger doesn't look to get his hole filled in this one.
I didn't think it was possible, but that was not only a valid comment on the film industry, but also a lego AND gay joke.....this is what you get at 3 in the morning from me folks lol.
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Sep 15th, 2006 07:11 AM
