Heath Ledger’s “chilling” Joker transformation “absolutely floored” Michael Caine: “I was terrified”

Seeing Heath Ledger as The Joker in The Dark Knight left co-star Sir Michael Caine “terrified”, according to the latter’s memoir.

Ledger would play the iconic Batman villain in Christopher Nolan’s 2008 blockbuster, redefining the role in a performance that would win an Oscar. The actor died in January 2008, four months before the release of the film, after overdosing on prescription drugs. He was 28 years old.

Caine, who played Bruce Wayne’s butler Alfred in the movie, recalled working with him in his book Don’t Look Back, You’ll Trip Over: My Guide to Life.

“The smeared makeup, the weird hair, the strange voice. It was chilling,” he wrote. “Absolutely floored me the first time I saw him in action – I was terrified”. He said the performance inspired others on set to “raise our game”.

Looking back, Caine lamented the untimely death of Ledger and recalled what might have been. “Heath was only 28 when he passed away. I hadn’t even made Zulu when I was that age,” he wrote. “You think of what he might have gone on to achieve, it’s just heart-breaking”.

Promotion for their film also became difficult for him. “We were all terribly shocked, and it made doing the publicity for The Dark Knight that summer much more intense, because all the journalists wanted to talk about his death”.

He said of the passing: “it still makes me sad to think of it”, although he describes The Joker as “a performance for the ages”. “Even though his career was cut short so soon, he’ll be remembered as a great actor, I believe” he asserted.

Last year, Heath Ledger’s friend shared a new detail about the actor’s death, with Stephen Gaghan revealing he received a call from the scene due to his number being on a script on the actor’s bedside table.

In November, Caine divided the internet by sharing a petition calling for a fresh General Election to be held.

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