Heath Ledger's Dark Night

Posted By:	The Boneman
Posted On:	Tue Jan 22nd, 2008

Goodness, one would have thought that Heath Ledger would have had the world by the tail. 28 years old, Oscar Nominated, upcoming role as the Joker in this summer's sure-fire blockbuster The Dark Knight, the follow up to Christopher Nolan's Batman Begins. A two year old daughter Matilda from his coupling with Brokeback Mountain co-star Michelle Williams? I guess if it does turn out that his death was intentional, I suppose the dissolution of his engagement and Williams subsequent relationship with Ryan Gosling will certainly be scrutinized in the days to follow. In an interview before Matilda's birth he said of his relationship with Williams "She's my soul mate and we couldn't love each other any more than we do already. We're like two peas in a pod." This is just a real bummer and such a sad loss for us all. You couldn't name an actor with a future as secure. Looking back at his choices of roles he gave everyone something to identify with. The mysterious loner bad-boy in 10 Things I Hate About You, his courageous choices in both Brokeback Mountain and Monster's Ball. (Both hauntingly ironic now) His sudden, unexpected suicide in Monster's Ball ranks as one of the more visceral cinematic kicks in the teeth of the new century. To say nothing of the little seen film Candy where Heath portrays a heroin addict who brings his girlfriend Candy (Abbey Cornish) into his Bohemian world of poetry and opiate-addiction.

Personally, I'm putting my wager on an accident, he just had that Aussie "live for today" approach to life. Still this past year has given us all a lot to think about in case a Genie happens to grant us 3 wishes and you think being a Movie Star sounds good. This is just the capper of a year that's seen the drug-related death of Brad Renfro, Owen Wilson attempt suicide, Mel Gibson prove to be deeply unhappy, Lyndsay Lohan out of her mind and Britney Spears stalked like prey. You wonder if a lot of people are lucky that their dreams didn't come true. Until we know more, there's no point in speculating further but it deserves mention that he was currently flying back and forth from New York and London in the process of shooting a picture called the Imaginarium of Dr Parnassus, which was written and being directed by Terry Gilliam and co-stars Tom Waits. You have to feel for Terry Gilliam - somewhere along the line he broke the wrong mirror.