Heath Ledger’s touching tribute to his daughter in his Joker performance
Playing an unhinged villain in one of the best comic book movies of all time doesn’t leave much room for sentimentality, but Heath Ledger still found a way to pay an emotional tribute to his daughter when trying to bring down Gotham City in Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight.
The actor was deservedly rewarded with a posthumous Academy Award for ‘Best Supporting Actor’ for an immersive, intelligent, and suitably psychotic turn as the Clown Prince of Crime, one that saw him plumb the psychological depths to reach new heights as a performer.
Isolating himself for a month to work on the Joker’s cadence, mannerisms, and makeup, Ledger admitted to MTV that dedicating himself to steadfastly to the character took a physical and emotional toll: “It was an exhausting process. At the end of the day, I couldn’t move. I couldn’t talk. I was absolutely wrecked,” he said, but not without describing it as “the most fun I’ve had with a character” and rather tragically considering what transpired after shooting had concluded, “and probably will have”.
One of The Dark Knight‘s most memorable scenes occurs at the local hospital, with the Joker infiltrating the building to get closer to Aaron Eckhart’s Harvey Dent. While putting on a nurse’s uniform isn’t exactly incognito for somebody with green hair and paints their face, the name badge sported by the Jester of Genocide came straight from the heart.
Ledger’s daughter Matilda – whom he shared with former flame Michelle Williams – was born in October of 2005, making her less than two years old when cameras started rolling on The Dark Knight. As part of the Joker’s medically-assisted ensemble, he sported a nametag emblazoned with “Matilda” to offer a touching shout-out to his young child even in the midst of conducting blockbuster-sized anarchy.
The hospital sequence ends in spectacular fashion – complete with a fantastic sight gag of the Joker repeatedly pressing the detonator to no avail – befitting Nolan’s preference for practical effects, with the production team taking advantage of a Chicago candy factory being scheduled for demolition by taking the matter out of the city’s hands and blowing it up themselves.
From start to finish, it’s one of the most intense and exhilarating scenes in a scene that cements Dent’s transformation into the villainous Two-Face before ending in the complete and utter destruction of an entire building, but Ledger honouring his daughter ensures that there’s also a moving emotionality that would have gone completely unnoticed by all but the most eagle-eyed upon first viewing.
Sadly, Ledger passed away at the age of 28, just four months before The Dark Knight arrived in cinemas in July 2008, but his legacy was secured after he delivered one of the superhero genre’s most iconic performances as one of its most famous figures.
