Heath Ledger’s Joker is just Rotten
June 15, 2008
Heath Ledger based The Joker in the new Batman film on punk legend JOHNNY ROTTEN.
The Dark Knight director CHRIS NOLAN suggested the actor studied the SEX PISTOLS legend, now known as JOHN LYDON, to help him with the psychotic character.
“We very much took the view in looking at the character of the Joker that what’s strong about him is this idea of anarchy,” says Nolan.
“I talked to Heath a lot about it, even while we were finishing the script.
“We wanted to show the pure anarchy of someone who wants to do harm purely for its own sake and for his own entertainment, and Johnny Rotten was one of those we had in mind to help us achieve that.”
Meanwhile leading man CHRISTIAN BALE says he doesn’t believe that Heath, who died of a drug overdose in February, was disturbed by his character in the Batman Begins sequel.
Sienna Miller Remembers Heath Ledger’s Pajamas
June 10, 2008
Sienna Miller says a pair of pajamas she shared with Heath Ledger, who died in January, helps keep her Casanova costar alive in her heart.
“Heath and I had this amazing night out in Venice with my mother,” Miller tells June 7 issue of Britain’s Telegraph Magazine, recalling working on their 2005 movie. “It had been pouring with rain. Heath ran out in the middle of St. Mark’s square and we were running around, and I slipped over.”
“We all ran back to his [apartment] and he gave me these dry pajamas to get home in,” Miller says.
Two years later, Miller had the chance to return the favor to Ledger, who often talked about his trouble getting a good night of sleep.
“When he came over to my house last November, and he was having trouble sleeping, I gave them back, to help him sleep,” she says.
To Miller, the PJs became a symbol of her friendship with Ledger. “When he died, I was so sad that I didn’t have these stupid pajamas anymore, so his father found them to give to me.”
Miller keeps the blue checked sleepwear close, and had them with her in Prague during the filming of her upcoming movie, G.I. Joe, the magazine reports.
- from People
Brokeback Mountain. The Musical!
June 8, 2008
New York City Opera has commissioned Charles Wuorinen to compose an opera based on Annie Proulx’s short story “Brokeback Mountain,” which was adapted into the 2005 film.
Slated to premiere in the 2013 spring season, the work will be Pulitzer-winning composer Wuorinen’s second commission for City Opera, following the 2004 premiere of “Haroun and the Sea of Stories,” based on the Salman Rushdie novel.
City Opera general manager-designate Gerard Mortier, whose appointment was announced last year, commissioned the work, signaling his intention to breathe fresh life into the New York cultural institution.
Mortier has built an international reputation for innovative productions at the Salzburg Festival in the 1990s and more recently at Paris Opera. He starts his first season at City Opera in Sept. 2009.
“Ever since encountering Annie Proulx’s extraordinary story I have wanted to make an opera on it,” said Wuorinen. “It gives me great joy that Gerard Mortier and New York City Opera have given me the opportunity to do so.”
- From Variety
Michelle Williams Helps Fund Heath Ledger Scholarship
June 6, 2008
It’s been five months since Heath Ledger’s shocking death at age 28. But the young actor was still very much on the minds of his colleagues at Thursday night’s Australians in Film 2008 Breakthrough Awards in Beverly Hills.
The emotional highlight of the evening came when Gregor Jordan – who became good friends with Ledger after directing him in 1999’s Two Hands – announced the formation of a Heath Ledger scholarship fund to help struggling Australian actors.
- From People
Christian Bale ‘Wanted to Share’ Dark Knight with Heath Ledger
May 27, 2008
Dark Knight star Christian Bale recalls his costar Heath Ledger as “intense” and “anarchistic” on the set of the set of the late actor’s last movie.
“He was incredibly intense in his performance, but incredibly mellow and laid-back. Certainly there was this great anarchistic streak to it – just getting dirtier than anybody’s envisioned the Joker before,” Bale, 34, tells Details magazine.
Ledger died on Jan. 22 of a prescription-drug overdose at the age of 28. And Bale laments that the film “was something I wanted to share with him – and expected to do so.”
“And I can’t do anything else but hope that it will be an absolutely appropriate celebration of his work,” he says. In earlier interviews, Bale commended Ledger on doing “one hell of a job.”
- From People
New Heath Ledge Joker Poster for The Dark Knight
May 18, 2008
yeah its big, but bigger is better, you bitches.
Heath Ledger’s ghost spotted by Michelle William
April 29, 2008
Heath Ledger’s former fiancee, Michelle Williams, claims she is being haunted by the tragic actor’s ghost and that it helped her grieve. Williams told friends that Heath, who died aged 28 of an accidental drug overdose in January, had twice visited her as a “shadowy apparition”.
Via 7con
As we said, Heath Ledger’s death scene in The Dark Knight will remain intact
April 16, 2008
Early screenings of The Dark Knight left some film fans reeling after they saw footage of Ledger, as The Joker, hiding out in a bodybag. That prompted internet speculation about whether studio heads would cut the scene to avoid upsetting sensitive Ledger fans. But a source close to the production tells website MovieHole.net, “The film remains intact - and nothing of Ledger’s will be cut from the movie, including the bodybag scene.”
The source adds, “I know for a fact that that scene is in the film. I also know that WB has made no such mandate and that (director) Chris Nolan is honest when saying that he will not change what was intended with The Joker.”
via here
Dead Heath Ledger steals spotlight as The Joker
April 14, 2008
Chilling promotional images of Ledger portraying the Joker from the upcoming Batman movie, The Dark Knight, have been released - nearly three months after the Perth-born actor was found dead in New York.
In one scene from the film, Ledger is dressed in a white nurse’s uniform, wielding a gun and wearing a surgical mask. In another, his face painted with the Joker’s trademark evil grin in red, he points a gun directly at the camera.
These are just two of the many images film company Warner Bros is using to promote The Dark Knight, to be released in Australia on July 17. From the movie’s promotional material to the trailer, Ledger appears to be the main attraction, with Christian Bale, who plays Batman, taking a back seat.
Via DailyT
Paparazzi drugged Heath Ledger?
April 12, 2008
A lawsuit filed on Friday against a Hollywood photo agency says two of its paparazzi supplied actor Heath Ledger with cocaine so they could secretly videotape him snorting the drug in a hotel room two years ago.
The suit says footage of the Ledger encounter, a portion of which aired briefly on two U.S. television shows days after his death in January — prompting an outcry in Hollywood — was sold to media outlets around the world, some in Britain and his native Australia.
Via Reuters
Heath’s Joker in a bodybag scene being cut? Bullshit.
April 10, 2008
he scene involves Ledger’s Joker character pretending to be dead and being pictured in a body bag. Apparently the aftershocks of Ledger’s unfortunate death are such that many in the screening reacted rather badly to this moment and now execs are considering excising the scene altogether.
Via Cinemablend
This Is What It Sounds Like When Mini-Mes Cry
April 9, 2008
This week, an emotional Verne Troyer tried to hold back the tears, speaking about his “Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus” co-star and friend Heath Ledger.
“I’ve just got to say thank you to Heath for letting me be a part of his life for that short period of time,” Troyer said, thinking back to the day the world first heard about the Oscar nominee’s January 22 death. “It’s just tragic.
“What happened was that we had just finished filming in London, and I had a scene with Heath, as did Christopher Plummer … Lily Cole and Andrew Garfield,” the actor recalled. “We had all just worked with him and we all flew back. He flew back to New York, I flew back to L.A., and two days or three days after he was in New York was when it happened. I was still recovering from jet lag back in L.A., and I didn’t know about it until my manager called me. She wouldn’t tell me on the phone. She literally came over and told me. And I just literally broke down.”
Via MTV
Heath Ledger Remembered on his 29th Birthday
April 5, 2008
As family and friends continue to try to come to grips with Heath Ledger’s death in January, Friday marked what would have been the actor’s 29th birthday. As family and friends continue to try to come to grips with Heath Ledger’s death in January, Friday marked what would have been the actor’s 29th birthday. Also keeping a low profile was Michelle Williams and 2-year-old daughter Matilda. Williams has kept busy in Boston, working on the film Shutter Island, based on the book.
Via People
Leaked New Pic of Heath Ledger’s Joker
April 2, 2008
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Heath Ledger fathered a secret love child
March 31, 2008
The late Hollywood actor Heath Ledger fathered a secret love child while still at school, members of his feuding family have claimed. Ledger, who died of an accidental drug overdose in his Manhattan apartment in January, was 17 and a schoolboy in Perth, Western Australia, when he struck up a relationship with a 25-year-old woman, reports said. “She had the baby. Everyone lived under the assumption that she was the daughter of the mother’s boyfriend and that is how she has been brought up,” the family member said. — Via UK
Who Wants to Be Heath Ledger for Halloween?
March 26, 2008
Michelle Williams’ Father Challenges Heath Ledger’s Father
March 25, 2008
The father of Heath Ledger’s ex-girlfriend Michelle Williams has challenged the late actor’s family to publicly state the value of their son’s fortune. Larry Williams, who is one of the world’s best known stock market traders, said he was perplexed that documents filed in a New York court listed Ledger’s assets at just $145,000. Michelle Williams and Ledger have a daughter, 2-year-old Matilda. Larry Williams, the toddler’s grandfather, issued the challenge to Ledger’s father Kim Ledger through The Sunday Telegraph. “It’s real simple: just come clean with everything,” he said. “It’s so easy to resolve this. He just has to say where the income went and where the assets are. “I’m certain that there is grieving in the Ledger family but (lawyers for) Kim have already filed papers in New York, so it seems like it’s time to be transparent about it. I have no idea what Heath Ledger was worth (but) they certainly haven’t stated all of the assets to the court.”
Via Foxnews
Heath Ledger’s ex-fiancee ‘desperately tried to get him into rehab’ before he died
March 23, 2008
Heath Ledger’s former fiancée Michelle Williams desperately tried to help the star get help to battle his addictions during his finals days, according to a US report. It was revealed that the actress and mother of his daughter Matilda, knew that Ledger was in “really, really bad shape” and had been working behind the scenes to save him from his addictions.
Via Dailymail
Heath Ledger Family Fued
March 19, 2008
Heath Ledger’s uncles are speaking out against his father Kim’s handling of the actor’s assets, saying Kim has a bad track record of estate management. Ledger’s father so mishandled the management of their grandfather’s estate 15 years ago in Australia that Kim was removed as executor, the uncles claim.
Via People
Heath Ledger, 2009 Oscar Best Actor for Batman?
March 11, 2008
Ledger was nominated for the lead-actor Oscar for “Brokeback Mountain” in 2005 but lost to Philip Seymour Hoffman (”Capote”). He might be considered a sentimental fave if he’s nominated next in either lead or supporting for “Dark Knight,” but Hollywooders are notoriously hard-hearted.
Via LATimes
Heath Ledger’s Dad: Michelle & Matilda Rose ‘Will Be Taken Care Of’
March 8, 2008
Heath Ledger’s family moved quickly to speak out Saturday after details of the late actor’s will were released – showing he had not updated it since his relationship with Michelle Williams and the 2005 birth of their daughter Matilda Rose. “Matilda is our absolute priority and Michelle is an integral part of our family,” Heath’s father Kim Ledger says in a statement. “They will be taken care of and that’s how Heath would want it to be.” Ledger’s will – filed in Australia in April 2003, before Williams and before his Oscar nomination for Brokeback Mountain – left everything he owned to his parents and sister, New York’s Daily News reported Saturday. A series of documents filed in Manhattan Surrogate’s Court revealed that the actor had less than $145,000 in New York assets at the time, including a $25,000 Toyota Prius and $20,000 in furniture and fixtures.
Via People
Heath Ledger assets go to parents, siblings
March 8, 2008
Ledger’s ‘03 will made no provisions for his baby or her mother. Before he hit it huge, tragic “Brokeback Mountain” hunk Heath Ledger wrote a will leaving everything he owned to his parents and three sisters.
Via NYDailynews
Michelle Williams: ‘I Didn’t Know Where to Go’ After Heath Ledger Split
March 6, 2008
At the time, she was still mourning their breakup. “I didn’t know where to go” after their 2007 split, she says in the magazine’s April issue. “I couldn’t imagine any place in the world that was gonna feel good to me.”
Via People
Heath Ledger’s Doctors Cleared In Drug-Enforcement Investigation
March 1, 2008
“The federal Drug Enforcement Agency has cleared two doctors, one in Los Angeles and one in Houston, of any wrongdoing in connection with the death of 28-year-old actor Heath Ledger, who died last month of an accidental overdose, reports the New York Post.”
Via MTVMovie
Brad Renfro Can’t Even Catch a Break When Dead….
February 26, 2008
“Why was late actor Brad Renfro cut from the video tribute at Sunday’s Oscars? “It was really an editing decision because we can’t fit everyone in,” a rep for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences tells Usmagazine.com. “There was no specific reason.” The montage featured footage of late actors, including Heath Ledger, who passed away a week after Renfro.”
Via US