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Andrew Garfield did not work with the late Heath Ledger for lengthy, however their collaboration got here at a vital time in his profession. The “Spider-Man: No Manner Dwelling” star labored with the beloved actor shortly after Ledger performed Joker in Christopher Nolan’s “The Darkish Knight.” That efficiency would ultimately internet Ledger a posthumous Oscar for his now-legendary work as Batman’s biggest foe in what’s extensively thought-about to be one of many biggest comedian ebook films ever made. And in response to Garfield, it appears as if Ledger was fairly assured concerning the movie, regardless that he by no means received to see the world react to it.
Throughout a current episode of the “Completely happy Unhappy Confused” podcast, host Josh Horowitz broached the subject of Ledger, who tragically died on the age of 28 a number of months earlier than “The Darkish Knight” got here out. Earlier than that, Ledger partially filmed 2009’s “The Imaginarium of Physician Parnassus,” during which Garfield additionally starred. Whereas on the set, Garfield inquired about Nolan’s forthcoming “Batman Begins” sequel, and Ledger was apparently assured sufficient to be considerably smug about its prospects. As Garfield remembered with a smile:
“He was so smug about it. I used to be like, ‘How did that go?’ and he was like, ‘Yeah, it is actually good.'”
In equity to the smugness, Ledger was very proper — if something, he was underselling it. “The Darkish Knight” took the world by storm, majorly outperforming “Batman Begins” and changing into one in every of only a few films to cross the $1 billion mark on the field workplace at the moment. To this present day, there’s a quiet outrage over the truth that the movie wasn’t nominated for Finest Image on the Oscars. Greater than an excellent film, it grew to become an on the spot basic, with Ledger typically cited as the most effective villains in cinema historical past.
Andrew Garfiled speaks very extremely of Heath Ledger
Ledger did not win that Oscar as a result of he died younger, he gained as a result of he gave a efficiency for the ages, elevating what already would have been an amazing movie into one thing past nice. So it appears truthful for him to acknowledge that Nolan was onto one thing good with “The Darkish Knight.”
Garfield additionally spoke a bit extra concerning the late actor, recalling that confidence wasn’t the one emotion Ledger felt about his work. Garfield, who’s at the moment selling his new film “We Reside in Time,” remembered Ledger disliking a little bit of promotion he needed to do on the time for Empire Journal:
“I keep in mind his Empire Journal cowl got here out and he was like, ‘Oh, they used a f***ing s*** picture.’ And I used to be like, ‘Are you kidding me, dude that appears f***ing unimaginable.’ And he was like, ‘Nah, the pose is all flawed, it appears kinda like a traditional model of what an actor … you will see.’ And yeah, I did see.”
Garfield additionally revealed that Ledger as soon as gave him a pair of Ray-Ban sun shades. Garfield had complimented them, and Ledger then gifted them to him. Nevertheless it wasn’t simply the glasses. The actor had nothing however good issues to say about his late co-star, paying him a bunch of compliments elsewhere within the interview:
“He was only a very beneficiant, stunning, artistic spirit. He was a type of beacon. It was like a wild animal. He was so free and so wild and so type of harmful on set in a means that was the type of factor that’s inspiring and spontaneous. He would say earlier than each take, or one take each scene, ‘Let’s have some enjoyable with this one.'”
Ledger most likely had an terrible lot left to offer as an actor. Apart from the truth that Joker seemingly would have had some form of position to play in “The Darkish Knight Rises,” one can solely think about the gives that may have been on his desk within the aftermath of his Oscar win. We’ll by no means know what might have been, however it’s good to listen to him spoken of so fondly all these years later.
“The Darkish Knight” is at the moment streaming on Max, or you’ll be able to choose up a 4K copy on Amazon.