“Stay Curious.”
I can’t tell you what made me decide to write this piece. Part of me knows I probably shouldn’t because I, like most people, never knew Heath Ledger the person. To be fair, I didn’t know Heath Ledger the actor. I never talked to him or worked with him — I just watched, as the world did, this insanely brilliant performer “light up the silver screen” as the adage goes.
I remember the summer of 2008 when Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight finally hit theaters. It’s one of the few films I’ve seen in my lifetime that absolutely lived up to all of the hype. Correction, it blew the hype out of the water. Maybe some of that hype was caused by the fact that Heath Ledger had passed away on January 22nd of that same year.
I’m not one to get very emotional when a celebrity dies. Because as cliche as it sounds, death is a part of life. That being said, I could tell you exactly where I was and what I was doing when I found out that Heath Ledger had passed. So maybe that’s why I’m writing this. Because it stuck with me. Because hell, going through theatre school I wanted to be like Heath. He was an actor that I looked up to, and someone I wanted to emulate. I ended up seeing The Dark Knight three times in theaters that summer — more than I’d ever gone to see a movie in my life.
Recently I stumbled upon a box of old notebooks, folders, and the like. One folder in particular caught my attention. It was from a public speaking class I had taken my junior year of college. Full disclosure I was a terrible writer back then and an even worse public speaker. But I decided to write, and give a speech on Heath Ledger. I wanted to share some of that speech because even though I was much younger as a person and as a writer, the sentiment still holds true. This was the introduction to that speech:
“I only do this because I’m having fun. The day I stop having fun, I’ll just walk away.” Nobody would have ever imagined that 8 years after Heath Ledger made this statement, he would be found dead in a New York City apartment.
I think the quote speaks for itself. Heath gave that fantastic statement when asked about his career, and it always struck a chord with me. As you can see, I went and added a not so tactful tag to close out the intro. Anyway, I digress.
Even though Ledger was good at sports he ended up choosing drama instead, and at the age of 10 he won the role of Peter Pan at a local community theater. He even gave up a career in cooking to chase his dream of being an actor. With only 69 cents to his name, Ledger got his first acting job in a low budget movie called “Blackrock.”
When researching Heath’s life I really enjoyed the fact that he was clearly a talented athlete and promising chef, but seemingly his attitude was “screw it, I want to be an actor.”
In 1999, he landed the lead role in an Aussie crime thriller called “Two Hands.” His performance was so good that he then landed his role in the movie “10 Things I Hate About You.” The only problem was he felt as if he was being typecast as the “teen hunk.”
What’s not to like about this guy? He finally landed a role that would thrust him into the spotlight, and solidify his acting career. All the while he just wanted something more challenging. As we know, Heath would take on some pretty substantial roles in the years that followed. Appearing in such films as The Patriot, Monster’s Ball, and A Knight’s Tale obviously helped to shed that “pretty boy” persona that he despised so much. Again, pardon my poor college writing…
After filming “A Knight’s Tale,” Ledger still felt as though he was not pushing himself enough to take on harder roles. In 2005 though, he got his chance with the movie “Brokeback Mountain” This was different from anything else he had done before and that is the way he liked it. Ledger was nominated for a Golden Globe Award, Academy Award, and Screen Actor’s Guild Award all for best actor.
I’ve only seen Brokeback Mountain a few times in its entirety. One of those times was with my best friend and his mom. By the end of the movie, tears were gushing down his mom’s face, and I was probably holding back some of my own. If you haven’t seen it, do yourself a favor and give it a watch. For all of the jests and grief that the film has received, it’s a very powerful stand-out film. Fair warning, you may need close to 27 boxes of tissues.
In 2005, Ledger also appeared in the skateboarding biography Lords of Dogtown. The film and role were again so different than anything he had ever done before. When I turned 17, I was your typical ratchet-ass skater punk. So a group of my angst-filled friends and I went to see the film on my birthday. Its hard to describe now, but it was like we were living the movie. It’s one of those memories that I am truly fond of, because of how much we felt like we could relate to the characters. Heath was obviously a part of that.
When news leaked that Heath would be playing the role of the The Joker, I was beyond excited. There’s no other way to put it. One of my favorite actors — one of my personal heroes was going to portray pure evil. It doesn’t get much better than that.
I concluded my speech in college with what I’d call a lame attempt to be creative. But before that, Heath Ledger again graced us with his awesomeness.
When asked about the role Ledger said, “The Joker so far, is definitely the most fun I’ve had with any character.”
How can you not love this guy?
Billy Joel once said, “They never told you the price that you pay for the things you might have done…only the good die young.”
Yup, there it is. That’s good ole’ Billy Joel bringing it home. I’m not even sure why I used the song lyric. I’m not particularly a huge Billy Joel fan. In any case I suppose the quote is relevant, but doesn’t do the speech nor Heath Ledger nearly enough justice.
I wanted to share all of this because I’m sure I’m not the only person who admired this unbelievably talented human being. Whether he’s singing Frankie Valli on the bleachers or tormenting Gotham City for fun, it is and always will be a joy and a privilege to watch Heath Ledger perform.
And at the risk of writing another tacky conclusion, I’ll just let the man himself do the talking. Ledger once said, “I just want to stay curious.” It’s safe to say he accomplished that feat and much, much more.
