Michael Caine opens up about Heath Ledger’s death: “Heartbreaking”
Michael Caine has revealed that the press tour for The Dark Knight was an incredibly difficult experience in the wake of Heath Ledger’s death.
In the pages of Caine’s new memoir Don’t Look Back, You’ll Trip Over, the iconic Get Carter star reminisced about working on the billion-dollar Batman Begins sequel with Ledger, who delivered an astonishing Oscar-winning performance as The Joker.
“Heath was only 28 when he passed away,” a mournful Caine wrote. “I hadn’t even made Zulu when I was that age. You think of what he might have gone on to achieve; it’s just heartbreaking.”
Ledger’s death came four months before the movie’s release, and Caine admitted that it made the press tour a particularly uncomfortable and emotional experience for everyone involved in the film. He wrote, “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.”
Caine waxed lyrical about Ledger’s portrayal of the terrifying villain, saying it was “a performance for the ages” that legitimately frightened him the first time he witnessed it on-set.
“The smeared makeup, the weird hair, the strange voice,” Caine explained. “It was chilling. Absolutely floored me the first time I saw him in action – I was terrified.” However, he said Ledger’s fierce commitment to the role also inspired the other actors to raise their games.
“He was a lovely guy, very gentle and unassuming,” Caine wrote of the prodigiously talented Australian. “Even though his career was cut short so soon, he’ll be remembered as a great actor, I believe.” He also confessed that thinking of Ledger’s death “still makes me sad.”
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