The path of Heath Ledger to the realization of his dreams was not thorny, but this path required a lot of perseverance. An actor who had only a school theater behind him could easily get the title of great if his life had not ended so early.
This is not to say that for the American Oscar, traditionally rewarding actors posthumously. This happened only twice, in 1977 and in 2009. Both actors awarded such a prize, by a strange coincidence, are Australians. The first one, already forgotten, Peter Finch, died at the age of 60 from a heart attack. The second was only 28. His name is familiar to the whole world.
Heath Ledger (Heath Ledger). Full name: Heathcliff Andrew Ledger. Heathcliff was named after the protagonist of Wuthering Heights. He was born in 1979, April 4, in the Australian city of Perth. For a negligible period of just over 12 years, this actor managed to leave an indelible mark on the hearts of fans.
It is now impossible to assess how deeply Heathcliff could penetrate all the intricacies of his profession. It remains only to guess and build assumptions.
It all started with school years. The manager turned 10 when he played Peter Pan in his hometown theater. Around that time, his parents divorced. Heath, along with his sister Katherine, stayed with his mother. Now their family was incomplete.
The father of the family, Kim, was not at all happy with the fact that the son would be raised by a woman and receive the so-called "female education". Still - Kim Ledger led a very active lifestyle and was considered an unsurpassed race car driver. He did his best to make Heath engage in a male sport.
Kim was president of the field hockey school team for two years. His son had to become a hockey player. However, unlike his father, the guy liked the choreography. He made progress in it, and even helped the theater studio participants master the technique of dance.
When he had to make a decisive choice between sports and theatrical art, Heathcliff decidedly chose the latter.
After leaving school, Ledger Jr. went to Sydney. He was sure that Sydney is a city designed to fulfill all kinds of dreams. Yes, the dream came true - Hit first appeared on the screen.
His debut turned out to be an Australian youth television series called "Home and Away." Heathcliff played in him a gay cyclist. Ledger took part in the filming of three more television series. Between them, in 1997, he starred in the feature film "Black Rock". Fame, of course, was not long in coming.
Now Australia knew actor Heath Ledger. He became popular, but a career on his native continent did not match the aspirations of an ambitious newcomer. He knew - in order to gain real fame, he must certainly go to Hollywood. And of course, Heathcliff went there.
There is nothing strange in the fact that the American public also quickly noticed him, handsome and talented. He had an acting agent, he began to work in full force. “Ten Reasons for My Hate, ” “The Story of a Knight, ” “Patriot” - these are the work of Ledger, which began his career. All these films undoubtedly deserve audience attention.
For example, in Patriot, Heathcliff worked with Mel Gibson. Is this not a worthy neighborhood for a novice actor? Among other things, the film was the result of Heath's aspirations to break out of the role, which was already beginning to gradually absorb him. Hollywood tried to make the heroes of this actor the same type of handsome rebels. Ledger began to actively resist the all-consuming stereotype.
He was always attracted to complex characters with a deep inner world. During the trials for the “Patriot”, Heathcliff was, alas, not in the first place among the applicants. Nevertheless, the creators of the picture gave preference to him. The Ledger discerned the necessary qualities inherent in the character. Honesty, inflexibility, belief in ideals.
Yes, Heathcliff always wanted to live up to the ideal and do the right thing. A perfectionist who demands a lot from himself. The film crew "The Patriot" repeated in a voice that did not regret for a minute about choosing an actor for the role of the son of the protagonist. Heathcliff conquered all, even those who at first doubted the correctness of the choice of his candidacy.
Of course, such a person could not get past numerous actor’s novels. Since childhood, he has already been assigned the title of favorite of the fair sex. Judge for yourself - how else can you relate to a person for whose candidacy all women in the creative team begin to root together? "Take Heath and only Heath!"
The media love to talk about the romantic relationship of stars. Heath Ledger is also not bypassed. Indeed, he is the well-known Casanova, conqueror of hearts! Apparently, this is akin to competition: whoever can list as many names as possible of Heath Ledger's girlfriends won.
It's no secret that observant people discerned the presence of a chemical reaction between Ledger and the leading woman in the movie "10 Reasons for My Hate, " Julia Styles. There is nothing to be said with complete certainty. Most likely, in this film, only two young actors crossed who perfectly coped with their roles.
The list of his friends, of course, included the rather popular actress Heather Graham. What can we say about Naomi Watts, with whom Heath spent about two years! But on the set of the movie "Brokeback Mountain" Ledger was already waiting for fate itself.
Michelle Williams, who played the wife of the protagonist in this film, became the mother of Heath Ledger's only daughter, Matilda. Relations with Michelle did not last long. Everything was serious here, and even started talking about the wedding, but suddenly Michelle decided to devote herself to work, crossed out her dreams. This act of her became fatal. The gap greatly affected the mental state of Heathcliff. Ledger tried to deal with depression and completely get away from them in work. The famous Joker belongs to a difficult period that Heathcliff did not overcome.
On the set of The Dark Knight, Ledger again worked at full strength. He literally disappeared into his character. For a whole month he locked himself in four walls, kept a diary on behalf of the Joker. The audience, who were expecting the release of the movie "The Dark Knight", out of habit, was waiting to see a farce, green-haired doll on the screen. Heathcliff turned out to be far from a puppet villain. His Joker is a frightening psychopath, the reality of which cannot be unbelievable.
The Joker performed by Ledger is deservedly awarded with many prestigious awards. For the performance of this role, Heath was awarded the Oscar, Golden Globe, BAFTA, as well as the MTV Movie Awards. Everything happened already posthumously.
The last work of the actor was the role in the surrealistic film "The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus". Ledger did not have time to finish the game there. Now overdose of drugs is readily called the cause of his death. Let this statement remain entirely on the conscience of those who say so.
Ledger was not a drug addict. "The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus" was filmed in a fairly cold season. Heathcliff caught a bad cold on set. The doctor prescribed him the appropriate drugs. This was not taken into account: the actor tried to get away from depression and took other medications, also prescribed by the doctor.
As usual, Ledger did nothing in half. With a dose of drugs he missed. Moreover, the drugs taken for depression were incompatible with drugs for the common cold. The doctors who prescribed all this were not familiar with each other and did not consult on time. So this misfortune happened. An actor who would easily have received the title of great died from a mismatch of medications prescribed by doctors. The unfinished role for Ledger was played by others. They transferred all their fees to Ledger’s tiny daughter, Matilda.
Heathcliff fans were very upset by his departure. Luckily for them, there is not a single close-up of Ledger in The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus. It is hard to say if they could pass such a test - a look from the screen of his unreal eyes. It is possible that many would have a tantrum.
Deep conviction: the soul of this actor was not taken by the Devil, but by the Joker. Characteristic gestures, manners, facial expressions of the Joker - the hero of The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus performed by Ledger also has all of them. Either the actor did not cool off from work in The Dark Knight, or Jack Nicholson, the very first performer of this role, is right. Nicholson claims that the Joker is a werewolf and you need to be very careful with him. Heathcliff did not take care. He stepped, as he always stepped, into the abyss.
