Michael Jai White discusses Gambol’s death in ‘The Dark Knight’
When the character of Gambol was killed off during The Dark Knight, it came as some surprise, especially because the script certainly didn’t call for it. Arguably the person most shocked was understandably the actor who played the character, Michael Jai White.
In fact, White himself did not know of his death and cut-out scenes until the film’s premiere. He once opened up on Gambol’s seemingly untimely end and said, “It was the kind of thing where they had deeper intentions for Gambol; it was a character who was written for future use, I think. There were other plans to do stuff with that character and some things that were cut out.”
“I think that people can tell by the strange cut that I never shot a death scene,” he added. “The character wasn’t supposed to be gone. That is something that happened in editing later. I was as surprised as anybody. The next few moments after Gambol hit the ground, I was in a state of confusion, like, ‘What the hell happened? I guess I am not coming back.’”
However, White then noted that his early cut was likely “because of unfortunately losing Heath Ledger” and Christopher Nolan wanting to focus on his performance. Ledger died on January 22nd, 2008, from an overdose of prescription drugs. He was just 28, and his final role in Nolan’s superhero film has gone down as one of his best-ever performances.
White is adamant against any views of Ledger being viewed as a “drug-addled” actor, as this gets him “aggravated”. In White’s eyes, Ledger was rather “playful” and “this easygoing, very affable type of guy.”
He went on to explain Ledger’s notorious commitment to his craft, including the time he was dressed in full costume and makeup, despite knowing that he would not even be filmed. “That was a testament to who Heath Ledger was, that this man would go through hours of makeup for the benefit of his fellow actors,” White acknowledged.
Despite his early omission from the film, White is still in great admiration of The Dark Knight. He said, “I love Dark Knight. I love the fact that when superhero movies go dark, it is well appreciated because that really gets into the psyche of someone who would feel it necessary to fight crime. That is a dark idea. If that happened in reality, that comes from a very troubled place. So, psychologically, I think that is just great.”
