On Heath Ledger’s birthday, let’s look at why his portrayal of Joker stands apart even today and his film journey

Actor Heath Ledger played Joker in The Dark Knight (2008) and singlehandedly transfixed the global audience with his hissing voice and the petulant enigma of the character. His abrasive and electrifying depiction shocked the sanity out of the comic book fan’s universe and the general audience. On his birth anniversary, let’s revisit his performance as Joker, which also won him Oscars for the Best Supporting Actor posthumously. The award was accepted by his family at the 81st Academy Awards.

There have been great interpretations of the Joker before and after Ledger but his portrayal is often considered the best.

By the end of 2005, Batman Begins teased the imminent arrival of the Clown Prince of Crime and the fans were furiously speculating Nolan’s choice for playing the supervillain. But the director created a moral maze that brought out the anarchist, unbounded primal evil on-screen through Heath Ledger. And in order to achieve that, Ledger jumped into a cavernous depth and unfortunately, never really made it back. Several sources allegedly witnessed him transmogrify into an entity, disconnected and isolated into oblivion. He is said to have maintained a “Joker Diary” where he listed out delightfully unnerving contributions, working on potential voices, and developing character quirks.

The fans realised the comic book fantasy has turned into gritty fictional reality especially when Heath Ledger’s psycho clown tells Christian Bale’s towering Batman, “I don’t want to kill you. You complete me.” Ledger served Joker brilliantly which is miles away from Jack Nicholson’s funny take in Tim Burton’s 1989 Batman. Ledger’s face was not hidden by a mask, it was caked with mouldy makeup that highlighted the red scar of a grin along with the grungy hair, yellow teeth and a hissing voice. Chills run down the spine when Ledger’s Joker says, “What doesn’t kill you only makes you stranger”.

Ledger’s Joker has no gray areas, he rampaged through Gotham and the hearts of the audience throughout. Unfortunately, it took a toll on his health, leading to rumours about his untimely demise. He was suffering from severe insomnia and was diagnosed with pneumonia while shooting his last film, “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus” in London. He was playing a magician in the movie.

Ledger was born in Perth, Australia. He acted on stage, playing Peter Pan in school for the first time when he was just 10. His older sister Kate inspired him to act on stage and at 16, he left school to pursue an acting career. After a short-lived career in Australian television, he moved to the United States. In 1999, he appeared in the teen comedy film 10 Things I Hate About You, which grossed over 60 million dollars and received generally positive reviews from critics and cinema-goers.

Ledger created some mild, forgettable on-screen splashes for the next five years till 2005 and the world witnessed the real genius of Heath Ledger. Ledger also received “Best actor of 2005” awards from both the New York Film Critics Circle and the San Francisco Film Critics Circle for playing a Wyoming ranch hand in Brokeback Mountain. Ledger always demanded to be taken seriously and this role landed him inside that bracket. Brokeback Mountain was a breakthrough moment for queer representation in the arts and he received a Golden Globe nomination and an Academy Award for Best Actor. He was already in the big league and was eyeing even more. But he died on 22 January 2008 as a result of an accidental overdose of medications while The Dark Knight was in post-production.