A Look Back at the Too Few Roles of Heath Ledger

by Brett Parker

Academy Award nominee Heath Ledger, best known for his roles in the Oscar-winning Brokeback Mountain and the upcoming The Dark Knight, passed away in his New York City apartment on Tuesday, January 22nd.

I am not here to speculate about the details of his death. The media will undoubtedly produce shameless analogies of his demise within the following weeks to come. I am here to remember the rich and fascinating career of the ever-talented Ledger. To observe his career is to observe how an actor can transform himself from a charming teen idol into a method chameleon of the highest caliber. When Hollywood was ready to pin him down as just another pretty-boy actor, Ledger ran off the walls and found himself playing off-beat and unconventional characters, each performance sharpening his skills and nourishing his talents.

Throughout his early school years, Heath had shown a strong passion for the dramatic arts. By the time he was 17, Heath had packed up and moved to Sydney, Australia to try his hand at Australian productions. Heath found himself taking small roles in various films and short-lived television series. His most memorable Australian stint in the early days was the crime film Two Hands. Nonetheless, Ledger found the confidence to move to America and audition for roles there.

Ledger landed his first big break in 10 Things I Hate About You, a hopelessly quirky yet strangely enjoyable teen comedy. Ledger’s popularity in the role catapulted him to “It Boy” status in Hollywood. It was this new-found leverage in tinsel town that landed him in the Mel Gibson blockbuster, The Patriot, which is more-or-less considered the definite film about the American Revolution. My favorite film from Ledger’s teen-idol-era would have to be A Knight’s Tale, which starred Ledger as a medieval squire who lies about his identity to become a knight who competes in jousting. Not only is the film fresh and hilarious, but is a wonderful example of how pop music can be used to elevate the mood of a film.

Despite his growing popularity, Ledger was reportedly terrified of being an It Boy in much the same way Johnny Depp was terrified of being just another “Hollywood product.” This caused Ledger to cast out and take on unconventional roles in smaller cinematic fares. He played a suicidal prison guard in Monster’s Ball, an Australian outlaw in Ned Kelly, and a skateboard mentor in Lords of Dogtown. While Ledger eventually dabbed in big budget productions, such as The Four Feathers and The Brothers Grimm, his characters were still more complex and more colorful than you’d expect from a typical Hollywood star.

His best and most famous role came when he appeared in Ang Lee’s Brokeback Mountain, which told the story of two male cowboys in love and being unable to express it fully. Ledger played Ennis Del Mar, an introverted and complex cowboy who is damaged by his repressed feelings for fellow cowboy, Jack Twist (Jake Gyllenhaal). What was so special about Ledger’s performance was the fact that he had never dug so deep into a character before and transformed himself completely. He mastered the performance with the skills of a great method actor: altering his speech, mannerisms, and overall demeanor. His portrayal of Ennis is one of the most heartbreaking male performances in the history of cinema. Ledger’s performance is very subtle and reserved, yet we can sense every feeling of love and devastation that grips Ennis throughout the film. The 2005 Best Actor Oscar may have gone to Philip Seymour Hoffman for his wonderful and showy performance in Capote, but there are those that argue Ledger truly deserved the statue. His performance not only shattered stereotypes and conventions, but announced Ledger as an important acting talent of modern cinema.

Following the runaway success of Brokeback Mountain, Ledger continued to challenge himself with both fun and offbeat characters. He received good reviews for his portrayal of a heroin addict in Candy and I especially liked him in Casanova, in which he was cast in the title role of the legendary womanizer. Casanova is one of my favorite historical figures, and while the film doesn’t do him full justice, Ledger was certainly perfect in the role, conveying an effortless wit and confidence the role demanded.

While Brokeback Mountain shows Ledger’s best performance, I feel his best overall film is Todd Haynes’ I’m Not There, my pick for the best film of 2007. Ledger plays Robbie Clark, a famous movie star who is meant to represent the Dylan of the Blood on the Tracks era. Robbie’s marriage and divorce to the lovely Claire (Charlotte Gainsbourg) mirrors Dylan’s real life marriage and divorce from Sarah Lownds. While all the other actors explore Dylan’s head, Ledger wonderfully explores Dylan’s heart. His scenes depict Dylan’s joy in finding love and his heartbreak from the isolation of being a mythic celebrity. Perhaps Ledger drew on his own celebrity experiences and his separation from Michelle Williams as a starting point for his performance, which stands strongly with the other great performances in this film

Audiences will get a chance to see Ledger’s final, completed performance this summer in The Dark Knight; the sequel to Batman Begins that casts Ledger as the legendary comic villain, the Joker. While the film has yet to be seen in order to judge the performance, early previews suggest Ledger will be nothing short of exciting and masterful. While the Joker has always been depicted as wild and zany, Ledger’s performance promises to be more edgy and terrifying. If it’s any consolation, the film’s director, Christopher Nolan, can’t stop raving about Ledger and his performance. He’s been quoted as saying Ledger’s performance will be “extraordinary” and that Ledger himself is a “fearless” actor.

It’s been said that Warner Bros. is reportedly nervous in finding ways to market Ledger’s final film, feeling audiences will be uneasy about it. They shouldn’t worry. I recently took in a film at a packed Manhattan multiplex on a Friday night and The Dark Knight trailer was shown. The audience was pretty silent throughout while exciting clips of the Joker were shown. As the trailer ended, some yahoo in the back shouted “HEATH LEDGER!!!” Upon hearing that, the audience erupted with cheers and applause for the movie star. It may not have been the classiest ovation, but never in my life have I seen a movie star get such applause after a coming attraction.

If ever there was an actor that deserved applause, it’s Heath Ledger. He explored his craft like a true artist and conducted himself like the perfect gentleman. Like Marlon Brando and Johnny Depp before him, he broke rules of how to be a movie star and demonstrated fresh new ways in which an actor can matter. He was admirable in the way he threw self-preservation and vanity in the trash and reveled in creativity and conviction. He was in total command of his career and hungered for work that was raw and real. Of course an audience of moviegoers applauded him. Who wouldn’t applaud an actor based on those ideals?