POSSIBLE SPOILER ALERT!
Heath Ledger died on January 22, 2008, and since then rumors and stories have been swirling trying to get to the bottom of the shocking and sudden death of Ledger. Was he taking prescription drugs? Was he suffering from depression?
Heath Ledger as the Joker
Now we have a new theory. A source on the set of “The Dark Knight” says that Ledger was having some personal troubles, but instead of seeking professional help, he masked his troubles with his movie character, the Joker. And this source says that Ledger took it too far.
“Heath refused to talk to anyone out-of-character. If you tried to communicate with him normally instead of the Joker, he would just ignore you. He would often come to the set to hang out even on his days off in character, freaking everyone out. Toward the end of filming, he was warned by people that he’d gone too far, but it was almost like he couldn’t connect with those who cared for him anymore.”
It’s as if Ledger had completely transformed himself into the Joker. When the movie releases nationwide on July 18, 2008, audiences might struggle seeing Heath is such a life-like role. In fact, producers are already cutting scenes. (Here’s the spoiler …) Test audiences became distressed after seeing the Joker in a body bag, so Warner Bros. might delete a few of the scenes that will distress audiences of the non-test variety.
See more photos of Heather Ledger as the Joker and the trailer for “The Dark Knight” below.
Heath Ledger Photos
Heath Ledger Video - “The Dark Knight”