Heath Ledger's path to realizing his dreams was not a thorny one, but it took a lot of perseverance. An actor who had only a school theater behind him could easily have received the title of great if his life had not been cut short so early.
This is not to say that it is traditional for the American Oscar to award actors posthumously. This only happened twice, in 1977 and in 2009. Both actors who have received such an award are, by a strange coincidence, Australians. The first to be forgotten, Peter Finch, died at the age of 60 from a heart attack. The second was only 28. His name is familiar to the whole world.
Heath Ledger. Full name: Heathcliff Andrew Ledger. The boy was named Heathcliff after the protagonist of the novel Wuthering Heights. He was born in 1979, on April 4, in the Australian city of Perth. In a negligible period of time, barely more than 12 years, this actor managed to leave an indelible mark on the hearts of his fans.
It is now impossible to assess how deeply Heathcliff could penetrate all the subtleties of his profession. It remains only to guess and make assumptions.
It all started from school years. Ledger turned 10 when he played Peter Pan in his hometown theater. His parents divorced around that time. Heath, along with his sister Katherine, stayed with his mother. Now their family was incomplete.
The father of the family, Kim, was not at all satisfied with the circumstance that the son would be raised by a woman and receive the so-called "female upbringing". Still - Kim Ledger led a very active lifestyle and was considered an unsurpassed race car driver. He made every effort to make Heath take up the men's sport.
Kim was the president of the school's field hockey team for two years. His son had to become a hockey player. Nevertheless, unlike his father, the guy liked the choreography. He made good progress in it, and even helped the participants of the theater studio to master the dance technique.
When faced with the crucial choice between sports and performing arts, Heathcliff decidedly chose the latter.
After leaving school, Ledger Jr. went to Sydney. He was convinced that Sydney is a city designed to fulfill all kinds of dreams. Yes, the dream came true - Hit first appeared on the screen.
His debut was an Australian youth television series called Home and Away. Heathcliff played a gay cyclist in it. Ledger took part in the filming of three more television series. Between them, in 1997, he starred in the feature film Black Rock. Fame, of course, was not long in coming.
Now Australia knew the actor Heath Ledger. He became popular, but a career on his home continent did little to match the ambitious newcomer's aspirations. He knew that in order to gain real fame, he must certainly go to Hollywood. And of course Heathcliff went there.
It is not strange that the American public also quickly noticed him, handsome and talented. He got an acting agent, he started working at full strength. "Ten Reasons to Hate", "A Knight's Story", "The Patriot" - these are the works of Ledger, from which his career began. All these films undoubtedly deserve the audience's attention.
For example, Heathcliff worked with Mel Gibson at Patriot. Is this not a decent neighborhood for an aspiring actor? Among other things, the film was the result of Heath's aspirations to break out of the role, which was already beginning to gradually absorb him. Hollywood tried to make the heroes of this actor into the same type of handsome rebellious men. Ledger began to actively resist the all-consuming stereotype.
He was always drawn to complex characters with a deep inner world. During the trial for the Patriot, Heathcliff was, alas, not in the first place among the contenders. Nevertheless, the creators of the picture gave preference to him. Ledger saw the necessary qualities inherent in the character. Honesty, inflexibility, belief in ideals.
Yes, Heathcliff wanted to always be perfect and do the right thing. A perfectionist who demands a lot from himself. The film crew of "The Patriot" loudly repeated that they did not regret for a minute about the choice of an actor for the role of the son of the protagonist. Heathcliff conquered everyone, even those who initially doubted the fidelity of his choice.
Of course, such a person could not pass by numerous acting novels. Since childhood, he has already been assigned the title of a favorite of the fair sex. Judge for yourself - how else can you relate to a person for whose candidacy all the women of the creative team are unanimously beginning to root for? "Take a Hit and only a Hit!".
The media are very fond of talking about the romantic ties of stars. Heath Ledger is not bypassed either. Indeed, he is the well-known Casanova, the conqueror of hearts! Apparently, this is akin to a competition: whoever can list as many names of Heath Ledger's girlfriends as possible wins.
It's no secret that observant people have discerned a chemical reaction between Ledger and Julia Styles, the leading actress in the movie "10 Reasons to Hate". Nothing can be asserted here with complete certainty. Most likely, in this film there were just two young actors who did an excellent job with their roles.
The list of his girlfriends, of course, included the rather popular actress Heather Graham. What can we say about Naomi Watts, with whom Heath spent about two years! But on the set of Brokeback Mountain, Ledger was already awaiting fate.
Michelle Williams, who played the wife of the protagonist in this film, became the mother of Heath Ledger's only daughter, Matilda. The relationship with Michelle did not last long. Everything was serious here, and even talk began about the wedding, but suddenly Michelle decided to devote herself to work, crossed out her dreams. This act of hers became fatal. The gap greatly affected the state of mind of Heathcliff. Ledger tried to fight depression and completely leave them in work. The famous Joker belongs to a difficult period that Heathcliff never got through.
On the set of The Dark Knight, Ledger was once again at full strength. He literally disappeared into his character. For a whole month he locked himself in four walls, kept a diary on behalf of the Joker. The audience, waiting for the release of the movie "The Dark Knight" ("The Dark Knight"), out of habit, expected to see on the screen a farce, green-haired doll. Heathcliff is far from being a puppet villain. His Joker is a frightening psychopath, whose reality is impossible not to believe.
Joker performed by Ledger has been deservedly awarded with many prestigious awards. For the performance of this role, Hit received an Oscar, Golden Globe, BAFTA, and MTV Movie Awards. Everything happened posthumously.
The last work of the actor was the role in the surreal film "The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus". Ledger did not have time to finish there. Now the cause of his death is readily called a drug overdose. Let this statement remain entirely on the conscience of those who say so.
Ledger was not an addict. "The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus" was filmed during a rather cold season. Heathcliff caught a bad cold on set. The doctor prescribed the appropriate drugs for him. This was not taken into account: the actor tried to get away from depression and took other medications, also prescribed by a doctor.
As usual, Ledger did nothing by half. With a dose of medication, he missed. Moreover, the medications for depression were found to be incompatible with medications for the common cold. The doctors who discharged all this did not know each other and did not consult on time. This is how this misfortune happened. The actor, who could easily have received the title of great, died from the inconsistency of the drugs prescribed by doctors. Others played the unfinished role for Ledger. They gave their entire royalties to Ledger's tiny daughter, Matilda.
Heathcliff fans were very upset at his departure. Luckily for them, there is not a single close-up of Ledger in The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus. It's hard to say if they could have withstood such a test - the look from the screen of his unreal eyes. It is possible that many would have had hysterics.
Deep conviction: the soul of this actor was taken not by the Devil, but by the Joker. Characteristic gestures, manners, facial expressions of the Joker - all of them are also present in the hero of "The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus" performed by Ledger. Either the actor has not cooled down from his work in The Dark Knight, or the very first performer of this role, Jack Nicholson, is right. Nicholson claims that the Joker is a werewolf and you need to be very careful with him. Heathcliff was not careful. He stepped, as he always did, into the abyss.
