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Batman & The Joker Do Entertainment Weekly

Batman & The Joker Do Entertainment Weekly

Director Christopher Nolan spoke to Entertainment Weekly about the late Heath Ledger, who plays The Joker in the upcoming superhero blockbuster, The Dark Knight. Here’s what he had to say:

On Heath’s commitment to his character: ”The guy had serious nuts. What I needed was someone who wouldn’t be afraid of the comparison with Jack Nicholson. And then I saw Heath’s incredible performance in Brokeback Mountain. Such a lack of vanity. This was an actor who wasn’t afraid to bury himself in his character — to a massive extent.”

On having the same vision for the The Joker as Heath: ”We had the same take on the character. We didn’t have a script yet, but we had ideas. The idea of anarchy as an absolute. The idea of chaos as the most frightening thing to society. The idea of a motiveless criminal, somebody who just wants to watch the world burn.”

On Heath spending months working with a voice coach fine-tuning the Joker’s cackling cadence: “He tried to articulate to me what he was doing with his voice, but it was sometimes hard to understand. He talked about ventriloquist dummies, the way their mouths moved, the way their voices wouldn’t appear to come out of them. He said he wanted the voice to have a mocking quality, a sort of disconnectedness.”

On Heath splattering makeup across his face throughout the film: ”He started applying the makeup himself — just to see what it would look like if he put it on with his own hands. We talked about how streaking the paint could get across the idea of corruption, of decay.”

To read the full Dark Knight article, check out EW.com.

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28 Comments

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# 1
dylanefron @ 07/04/2008 at 12:06 am

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THIS MOVIE SUCKS big ****.

# 2

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i am so excited for thisss movie!
you have no idea.
:)

# 3

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love it! <3

# 4

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Can not wait!

# 5
Anonymous @ 07/04/2008 at 1:35 am

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Heath obviously was an incredibly gifted actor who explored the layers of his characters.

# 6

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i cant wait 2 see that movie
i feel so bad that heath ledger died
he was a great actor!

# 7

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i am so excited 2 see this movie
but i feel bad that heath ledger died
he was a very talented actor

# 8

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It’s no wonder he couldn’t sleep…..poor boy

# 9

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have you seen the movie!? then stfu.

kmklm kngmfc @ 07/04/2008 at 3:53 am

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hohoo, I am not that surprised at all. I saw her profile on the celebrities/rich men seeking affairs site !!!***SugarDaddyconnect . c o m last week. It said she is interested in seeking a rich man for sugar daddy on that site! (

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the comment above is directed to #1.
and I´m also excited too.

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Batman Begins has an awesome house in it which theyre meant to be rebuilding. I hope Michael Caine’s still the Butler, how surreal that was. It’s terrible that Katie (Holmes) isn’t still Rachael Dawes in it. She was quite good. And like that women from 40 days , 40 nights (Gyllenhall) might confuse me.
Hope the Riddler coming back in this sequel. That guys ill. What a dynamo. I guess there’s room for all tha little cameos. But I haven’t heard that there’s any particularly.
I’m starting to really not recognise it as a Christian Bale Movie. The drawling, the gumplates, the moulds and clean shaveness. Howdy

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perez hilten has the first 5 minuts of the movie on his site,and it looks amazing!!!

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I really wish they’d start marketing this movie. I’ve hardly seen anything about it.

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I’m excited about the movie (because of how great “Batman Begins” turned out to be). At the same time, it’ll be tough to see a film with the Joker staring and knowing that the actor died shortly after filming the movie.

Jack from Jamie Insider
http://www.jamieinsider.com

[☆I n F a m o u s☆] @ 07/04/2008 at 9:50 am

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genius or nutcase..

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why can’t they just release it next week?

bet betty @ 07/04/2008 at 5:06 pm

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Overcooked.

Yesterday’s Food.

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it will be embarassing if they dont beat Iron Man at the box office considering Iron Man is not as popular a superhero as Batman. Add the hype and death of Ledger to market the film.
I like Katie too for the role but the character will likely just die portrayed by Gyllenhaal.

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blondie @ 07/04/2008 at 8:15 pm

it will be embarassing if they dont beat Iron Man at the box office considering Iron Man is not as popular a superhero as Batman. Add the hype and death of Ledger to market the film.
I like Katie too for the role but the character will likely just die portrayed by Gyllenhaal.
_______
How is that embarassing? Iron Man broke records. It’ll still make like a hundred mil. The way some of you think is so insane.

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Well its made and thats enough momentum for the world to somehow see. The same way Batman Begins was seen. The style is humane enough to take language and things beyond celebrities into abstraction even and maintain certain beliefs. So you can familiarise with the way things are portrayed.
Bale brought the interest back to Batman so now this guys like the ultimate UFO or something. Seen probably, encountered but a mythical man also. But if thats what makes a man that!

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ri23 @ 07/04/2008 at 9:25 am

I really wish they’d start marketing this movie. I’ve hardly seen anything about it.

————————-

You must be kidding. DK had one of the most intense ad campaigns. It’s everywhere.

Bow Woah Tie @ 07/05/2008 at 3:36 pm

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Batman Top 5! Movies!

1. Batman & Mr Freeze SUBZERO (Animated)
2. Batman Begins
3. Batman Forever
4. Batman
5. Batman Returns

*See ‘Christan Bale – Details” for Top 10 Sci Fis Movies!

Crystal Body @ 07/05/2008 at 4:11 pm

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I Love You, Batman XXXXXXXXXXXxxxxxxxxXXXXXXXXXXxxxxxxxXXXXXXxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

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