Nicholson’s Warning
Before I get into Jack Nicholson’s comments after the death of Heath Ledger, I find it to be necessary to take a look into what kind of a mindset that an actor has to be in in order to portray a character such as The Joker.
First, I want to give you all a character description of the The Joker. As he stated in The Dark Knight, when he was younger, a dangerous situation took place between himself and one of this loved ones. Upon ultimately killing two of his prey in the movie, he asked both of them “Wanna know how I got these scars?” which referred to the scars that were abound around his mouth. The first story he told had to do with his father. According to the Joker, he placed a blade in his mouth and asked him “Why so serious?” and then said “Let’s put a smile on that face.” His father, apparently, proceeded to scar his mouth. The second story involved his girlfriend getting into an accident that left her mouth disfigured. To show that he didn’t mind her scars, he put a blade into his mouth and swished it around. She was so disgusted by this action that she refused to even look at him, leaving him traumatised.
The purpose of me telling you this is to try to get you realize the mindset that Heath Ledger had to put himself in to portray such a quardian of chaos. One has to go completely outside of themselves and learn how to become a diabolical, unrenting homicidal maniac as soon as the director asks you to. As I explained in a previous post, Ledger actually stay by himself in a hotel room for a month to learn the character. Most wouldn’t be able to handle a role such as this. Maybe this is why, upon hearing the news of Ledger’s death, Jack Nicholson simply replied, “I warned him.” Nicholson is a seasoned movie veteran who is respected by just about everybody in the movie industry. He knows what it takes to prepare for a role. As a man to portrayed the Joker first in Tim Burton’s Batman (1989), he had to go through a similar process.
Keep this in mind. Jack is still with us. Heath is not. I’m by no means saying that his portrayal of the Joker is a reason for his death, but it’s worth thinking about. When Jack warns you, maybe one should take heed.
October 1st, 2008 at 8:39 am
I think I need a little more context to understand the 2nd paragraph: In terms of the Dark Knight, are you talking about the movie or the comic it’s based on? Are you looking into the comic? Why did he tell two stories? Are they both true? I haven’t seen the movie so it’s hard to understand this explanation for why Heath Ledger was such a good actor in the movie–explain the mindset a little bit.