In the annals of Hollywood lore, few performances have become as legendary as Heath Ledger’s bone-chilling turn as the Joker in 2008’s The Dark Knight. And according to actor Andrew Garfield, the late icon knew even before the film’s release that his work was exceptional.
Garfield, who crossed paths with Ledger on the set of 2009’s The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, vividly remembers a conversation he had with the Oscar-winning actor shortly after he had wrapped production on Christopher Nolan’s gritty Batman sequel.
“He had just done the Joker, he had just finished doing The Dark Knight, and he was so smug about it,” Garfield recalled during a recent appearance on the Happy Sad Confused podcast. “I was like, ‘How did that go?’ and he was like, ‘Yeah, it’s perfect.'”
It’s an understatement that has since become the stuff of Hollywood legend. The Dark Knight would go on to shatter box office records, earning over $1 billion at the global box office and cementing Ledger’s status as one of the greatest actors of his generation.
Tragically, Ledger passed away just six months before the film’s release, the victim of an accidental drug overdose at the age of 28. But his electrifying performance as the Joker would go on to earn him a posthumous Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, a testament to his boundless talent and uncompromising commitment to his craft.
Garfield, starting to make a name for himself in Hollywood then, said Ledger’s confidence and unbridled energy immediately struck him on The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus set.
“He was a kind of beacon; it was like a wild animal,” Garfield recalled. “He was so free and so wild and so, kind of dangerous on set in an inspiring and spontaneous way.”
Ledger was known for that sense of spontaneity, according to Garfield. The Spider-Man star remembered how the actor often urged the cast and crew to “have some fun” with each take, never content to go through the motions.
“He would say before every take, or one take every scene, ‘Let’s have some fun with this one,'” Garfield said.
The lesson resonated with the young actor, who admitted he was often overly concerned with “getting it right” at the time. But watching Ledger’s fearless approach to his craft left a lasting impression.
“I still have lots of mementos of his,” Garfield revealed, including a pair of Ray-Ban sunglasses that Ledger had gifted him after Garfield had admired them on set.
“He was just a very generous, beautiful, creative spirit,” Garfield said of his late colleague. “He was so free and so wild and so, kind of dangerous on set in an inspiring and spontaneous way.”
That sense of danger and unpredictability was something Ledger himself acknowledged in the lead-up to the release of The Dark Knight. In an interview with Empire magazine, the actor admitted that he had “definitely feared” taking on the role of the Joker, even as he recognized the thrill of the challenge.
“Although anything that makes me afraid, I guess, excites me at the same time,” Ledger said. “I don’t know if I was fearless, but I certainly had to put on a brave face and believe I have something up my sleeve. Something different… [Joker] is just an absolute sociopath, a cold-blooded, mass-murdering clown, and [Christopher Nolan] has given me free rein.”
That “free rein” would ultimately result in one of the most memorable performances in modern cinema, a dark, unhinged take on the Joker that would cement Ledger’s legacy as one of the greatest actors of his generation. And as Garfield’s recollections make clear, the actor seemed to know, even in those final months, that he was creating something extraordinary.
“He was so smug about it,” Garfield said, a hint of awe in his voice. It was a smugness that, in hindsight, seems entirely justified. In the annals of superhero cinema, few performances have reached the same heights as Ledger’s iconic turn as the Joker – a testament to the actor’s boundless talent and the enduring impact he left on all those who had the privilege of working with him.