In Memory of Heath Ledger
Of all the 20-something-year-old actors to emerge in the last ten years, none seemed to have come out of nowhere as assuredly as Heath Ledger. In 1999, he was Julia Stiles romantic foil in 10 Things I Hate About You. In 2001, he was that cute blonde thing in the inexplicable blockbuster A Knight's Tale. No one ever questioned this man's ability to charm. Nevertheless in 2005, his Oscar-nominated turn in Ang Lee's tragic romance Brokeback Mountain made America sit up and take notice (and not just because he was kissing Jake Gyllenhaal on the lips). Ledger's portrayal of the closeted cowboy, at odds with himself as much as he is with society, revealed emotional depths that previous roles in Monster's Ball and Ned Kelly had only hinted at.
More recent projects like the Bob Dylan bio-pic I'm Not There. and the Batman chronicle The Dark Knight suggested an actor who, far from resting on his laurels, was eager to take ever greater risks with each new movie. It was as if the success of Brokeback released a potential in Ledger that even he hadn't known was there. His sudden death today, January 22, comes as a serious blow. The man who might have become the next Paul Newman or the next Sean Penn has become the next James Dean.
I will miss H.L. he was a seldom type guy. He never cared about what the media thought he just did his job and prosperity went along with it. It was great to see the SAG gave knowlegde to his death considering all the crap in the news. I will miss him dearly!
i love the range of emotion and depth he put into his characters and the last film he completed playing the joker reportedly left its mark on him. I will miss him and the talent he never got to share. Whether or not he can be compared to actors of old will remain an unanswered question. I perfer to remember what they left us on their own merits and what they failed to leave us, or to whom they can be compared to. to me, thats an injustice. thankfully, we do have the few movies with him exibiting a talent which will be forever lost, and forever remembered. bye heath, god bless you & keep you.