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Ledger Knew Joker’s Humor

By Andrew Belonsky July 24, 2008 at 10:07am · 22 comments

ledgerjoker.jpg
Late actor Heath Ledger knew exactly how psycho he needed to be to play the Joker.

Via Popbitch:

During the filming of The Dark Knight Heath Ledger kept a notebook to help him get in character, detailing all the things that he felt the Joker would find funny.

The first entry: AIDS.

No wonder he’s so convincing…

Heath Ledger HIV/AIDS Queerty The Dark Knight
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22 Comments

  • Darth Paul

    Diabetes is way more funny.

    July 24, 2008 at 10:07am
  • Woof

    How about drug over doses…oh wait…

    July 24, 2008 at 10:07am
  • Jake

    Woof,
    That’s just wrong!…but very funny!

    July 24, 2008 at 11:07am
  • Marc

    Dying young and stupid, now that’s funnY!

    July 24, 2008 at 11:07am
  • Jude

    Ledger didn’t find it funny himself, he just realized only a sociopathic monster could find something like AIDS funny. No need to attack him about that.

    July 24, 2008 at 12:07pm
  • ColeWake

    Yeah….I think some of you missed the point….

    July 24, 2008 at 12:07pm
  • parisinla

    That actually makes sense to me.

    July 24, 2008 at 12:07pm
  • CHURCHILL-Y

    Geez, the guy has been deceased by what, merely six months haven’t any of you got any respect for the dead?

    July 24, 2008 at 1:07pm
  • Darth Paul

    Plenty of time for respect during life, oh self-righteous dbag…

    July 24, 2008 at 1:07pm
  • GayBobVT

    And I hear Anthony Hopkins eats people!!! And not in the good way!

    July 24, 2008 at 1:07pm
  • Snoodle

    I think a lot of people are missing the point here…

    July 24, 2008 at 3:07pm
  • crazylove

    That’s because gay doesn’t necessarily equal smart or creative. If you are talking to audience (which clearly comes to this site) that’s not particularly creative in their own careers, then of course, this all seems ‘horrible.’ He was simply using a common writers/actors technique. It’s not acting if he were to just consider what Heath feels. It’s about what the Joker feels. Some of the worse actors I’ve had to deal with in directing them is where they want to do a performance based on what they would feel or do personally rather than what the character would say or do.

    July 24, 2008 at 4:07pm
  • Jude

    I agree with CrazyLove… actually, for him to pick AIDS as the first thing the Joker would find funny shows how terrible he realizes the disease to be. He picked something a lot of straight men either disregard or consider non-existent in their straight-bubble, and took it as one of the most terrible things to laugh about.

    We’re still talking about the Heath Ledger that the gay community embraced with arms wide-open after his role in Brokeback Mountain, right? A bit sudden of a change of heart, I say.

    July 24, 2008 at 5:07pm
  • heathlover

    LOL, Heath was awesome. R.I.P babe!

    July 24, 2008 at 6:07pm
  • crazylove

    Ironically- he took that role on when it wasn’t so “hip” to do so to do something different as an actor. I have to say along with Daniel Day Lewis and a few others he was one of those actors I always looked forward to seeing what they were going to do next. He really was an a potentially great actor in the making. On the level of his talent, his death was really disappointing,e specially when compared with many of the actors coming out of Hollywood.

    July 24, 2008 at 6:07pm
  • Chelsea

    Perhaps what he meant was that AIDS was widely ignored when it was simply a ‘gay disease’ and treatments/meds weren’t a top priority. Then God got them all back by smiting the rest of the world with it, and Hard. In a Joker-esque world, that’s funny.

    July 25, 2008 at 8:07am
  • Come on!

    To all of the “hey, wait a minute” people who say some people are missing the point, I think it is you who are missing the point of THEIR jokes. Clearly Heath was making those comments from inside the mind of the Joker; I think everyone can wrap their mind around that simple thought. Some of the jokes make are just of an ironic nature and not meant personally so really it’s you who are missing the point.

    July 25, 2008 at 11:07am
  • Phat girl

    Wha………

    July 25, 2008 at 1:07pm
  • Frowny McBeard

    Uh, the Joker beat one of the Robins nearly to death with a crowbar before blowing him up.

    AIDS would be hilarious to him. Then again, so would ebola. In fact, I’m pretty sure the Joker would be running 4chan.

    July 25, 2008 at 3:07pm
  • keith

    This bit is old news. When Ledger was still with us, he talked about exactly this in several interviews. This is just an excuse to get your panties in a wad.

    July 27, 2008 at 10:07am
  • Amber LeMay

    Please don’t mention panties and wad in the same sentence… flashbacks, horrible flashbacks.

    July 27, 2008 at 2:07pm
  • Double-D

    I think Ledger tapped into the most raw and visceral form of the Joker’s humor. Even if his stories aren’t true, the Joker had one bad history. I, for one, can relate to his sense of humor to an extent (not the stuff in the journal, per se’, but the things Joker thought were funny or interesting in TDK). When you think about it, the whole world has become a joke. Human behavior is a sick joke, and the fact that human behavior so contradicts the natural beauty of the universe itself – not to mention the results of the clash, – is hilarious. Joker was anti-elitist, and we don’t know what kinds of horrible crimes were committed by his victims. Perhaps, he sees himself as a “Joker of Justice”… remember: “The thing about chaos… it’s fair.” Did anybody notice how he talked about the “plans” of the “schemers”, and who they were; as opposed to his rejection of “plans”, and being a freak? Maybe, his real problem was with elitist conspiracies, and the attempt to cause a culture of cattle to kowtow to the oligarchy; and Joker was just trying to bring everyone to the same level, so they could all start over again as equals… maybe, we all need to be a little more like the Joker, and less like the “schemers”…

    January 28, 2011 at 9:01pm

Comments are closed.

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