Heath Ledger: It's Time to Set Things Straight

Everywhere I go I still hear about Heath Ledger. Some people tell me he completely ‘OD’ (overdosed). Others told me that he went insane. What really happened? Did the character of the Joker really make this brilliant actor out of his mind? Did he really overdose, or is it all a rumor? This brilliant actor has such a story that needs to be uncovered. What really happened to Heath Ledger? This Australian actor was only 27 when he had died. His death was so shocking and had such a big impact on the world.

Heath grew up in Perth, Australia. He began his acting career after he had graduated from High School. Heath and his best friend, since he was three, drove from Perth to Sydney. There Heath began his first roles. After Heath had became very successful, he had decided to come to the United States and take on bigger roles. His first US role was Patrick Verona in ‘10 Things I Hate About You’.

After having ‘10 Things’ be very successful, Heath tried out for the role of Gabriel Martin in ‘The Patriot’. Heath’s audition though was a train wreck. But a week later he got a call saying he had gotten the part. From there Heath had taken on even more roles. He had stared in ‘Monster’s Ball’, ‘Four Feathers’, and ‘A Knight’s Tale’. After the filming of ‘A Knight’s Tale’, Heath had been called to sit down with some directors. They had told him that he was starting to become a “Teen-age heart-throb”. Heath never wanted that to happen. All Heath wanted was to share his great gift to the world, he didn’t want all the publicity that came with it. Heath then began to get nervous, he went to the men’s room and locked himself in a stall while he had a panic attack. Heath’s agent had to come in and reassure Heath about what was happening to his career, and persuade him to come out of the stall.

Few years later Heath took on the role of Ennis Del Mar in ‘Brokeback Mountain’. Heath’s performance was praised. Rolling Stone’s Peter Travers claims, “Ledger's magnificent performance is an acting miracle. He seems to tear it from his insides. Ledger doesn't just know how Ennis moves, speaks and listens; he knows how he breathes. To see him inhale the scent of a shirt hanging in Jack's closet is to take measure of the pain of love lost." Heath took on the role of Ennis because he believed in the character, he knew in his mind how Ennis would do certain things or common mannerisms. Heath claimed he only took on roles that he could get into or believe in.

Heath had gotten more popular, but took on fewer roles. After ‘I’m Not There’ Heath had not gotten work for a long time. Heath began to become a little depressed. Heath got call from his agent telling him that he had found a role for him that he should try out. This role that Heath took on changed his life. The role was The Joker, in Chris Nolan’s Dark Knight. Heath didn’t believe much in the character of the Joker. Heath couldn’t naturally capture the Joker, like he could with Ennis Del Mar.

Heath got all kinds of references of the Joker, such as Jack Nicholson’s performance of the Joker in Tim Burton’s: Batman, and all different graphic novels. Heath locked himself in a hotel room with the references he had found. He locked him self in there until he got everything there was to know about the Joker. He made sure he acted like the Joker, and laughed just how he thought the Joker would laugh. Heath made sure that he was the Joker. Heath had finished his role, with praise from Batman fans everywhere. Even people who hated Batman went to see the Dark Knight because of Heath’s performance. This obviously gave Heath more publicity, and that was the one thing Heath hated. Heath hated going somewhere and having cameras in his face.

Heath had been in contact with one of his favorite directors and a good friend of his Terry Gilliam. Terry had told Heath that he was directing a new movie and that he wanted Heath to be in it. Heath wasn’t sure and had turned down Terry’s offer. Terry gave Heath a script and told Heath to reconsider. Heath had been going through a lot of anxiety about now, because of his daughter, Matilda and his ex-wife, Michelle Williams. Michelle had taken Matilda with her to Europe, during the filming of her latest movie. In the meantime, Heath had began reading the script of Terry’s latest movie, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus.

One day, Terry had went into his office to find a note on his desk from Heath. The note read “I want to take the role of Tony”. Terry was so happy. During the beginning of filming Heath had sleeping troubles. Heath would stay up all night. Sometime he'd do things to try and see if he got tired. One time he arranged all the furniture in his apartment at 3 AM, to try and fall asleep.

They began filming the Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus on a very tight budget, which got even tighter towards the end. The filming conditions weren’t very well either. It was mostly cold and raining most times. Heath began to catch a cold. Terry told him that he should go see a doctor. Heath had gone to a doctor and been diagnosed with the early signs of pneumonia. The doctor had prescribed Heath with three different medicine’s for his pain, anxiety, and cold. Heath had been getting even more anxiety, because he hadn’t seen Matilda in months.

Heath had made arrangements with Michelle to fly to Europe and see Matilda. Heath’s doctor told him he was in no condition for flying. Heath had called back Michelle and requested that she and Matilda, come to New York to see him. But Michelle said no and refused to be on a long plain ride with a 2 year old. Heath had been taking the medicines when he would need them, but he never took all of the together. One morning, Heath came in for filming and looked horrible. Terry had commanded Heath to go home and rest. Heath did, and that night he took one of each of the prescriptions he had been prescribed with.

The next morning Heath’s masseuse had found Heath unconscious. The masseuse had called one of Heath’s friends, Mary-Kate Olsen. Olsen, how had been in California at the time, then called a private New York City investigator to inspect the scene, ho arrived late. The masseuse then called 9-1-1 and tried preforming CPR, but was unsuccessful. At 3:36pm Heath was pronounced dead.

When Terry Gilliam had heard of Heath’s death he was shocked and thought it was a joke. When other actors had heard about Heath’s half finished role they wanted to help. Johnny Depp, Colon Farrell, and Jude Law came to Terry and told him they would like to help with the role of Tony, and the pay would go to Matilda. Johnny Depp, Colon Farrell, and Jude Law acted as stunt doubles for Heath all they were for was to capture the way Heath moves and such. The rest will be done with special effects, similar to the ones used of Brad Pitt in ‘The Curios Case of Benjamin Button’. Terry had also worked in more then one role for Tony, so everything will go smoothly (at least that’s what he thinks). After his death, Heath had also won many awards which will be given to Matilda, two are and Oscar and a Golden Globe.

Heath died of a accidental perception overdose. Doctor’s say a chemical phenomenon had occurred in Heath’s body, due to the chemicals in the medicines he had taken. Heath was an amazing actor and will always will be. His raw natural talent will go down in history along with his performances. He was such a great loss to the acting community. He will always be missed as a husband, a father, a son, a friend, or a hero like he was to most people.