THE CAST OF UPCOMING FEATURE FILM “THE DARK KNIGHT” GIVES KUDOS TO THE LATE HEATH LEDGER.

Regarding choosing Heath Ledger to play the Joker, director Christopher Nolan says: “I had the advantage of sitting opposite him and having him tell me he could do it. He's the only young actor that I went and paid ten dollars to see him do something truly remarkable which is his performance in "Brokeback Mountain." In that performance he does nothing out of vanity and nothing for the audience, which is a huge risk for an actor. And that kind of boldness was exactly what I needed.”

Regarding Ledger’s performance and his ability to immerse himself in the Joker character, Christian Bale says: When I'm watching him I don't see Heath. He makes himself invisible…I think that Heath has really created an iconic villain. If Chris Nolan does decides to make a third Batman, how the hell do we have a superior villain to the joker how do you up that? It's a very tricky question because Heath did such a superb job with it.

Actor Gary Oldman says despite the rumors that the Joker character was too intense for Ledger, he seemed to be doing well while shooting “The Dark Knight” : “He's accessible. I meant that’s the thing where people say, you know, the role went to his head. It was too intense. He thought he was the joker, he couldn't sleep, he was... I saw none of that. I mean we stand that night and laugh and joke on the sidewalk and I think he talked about his daughter Matilda. I saw him at the hotel out of makeup and he looked OK to me.

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