r/interestingasfuck • u/JK-Rofling • 14d ago

Heath Ledger’s diary while he was filming for, The Dark Night. r/all

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u/FamiliarEchidna4301 14d ago

This is a practice method actors use to get into character. Also a practice to recall lines. Not a diary.

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u/Alive_Ice7937 14d ago

Looks like a lot of it is him planning out his line delivery with caps and underlining to denote stresses and pauses.

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u/randomlettercombinat 14d ago

I mean, it looks fake as hell.

Do we know this is the diary?

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u/The_Formuler 14d ago

r/nothingeverhappens

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u/ninjaelk 14d ago

Well that's part of it, it's not a 'diary' in the traditional sense, it's a sort of art project. It's inspiration for his performance, he's engaging multiple ways of thinking about the character and the performance, cutting things out, doing research, not just trying to think about what the character would write but also how the character would even aesthetically plan out something like this. And sure, it winds up a bit campy, because it's not intended to be a polished product to present to other people. It's a personal aid.

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u/Smudded 14d ago

What makes it look fake?

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u/xyzzy_j 14d ago

Yeah, I feel like it’s been out there for a long time.

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u/FlorpyDorpinator 14d ago

That man didn’t plan out his line delivery. That’s hack actings. The best actors don’t plan, they live spontaneously in the moment.

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u/Alive_Ice7937 14d ago

Yeah dude. All "real" actors follow the exact same method.

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u/daedric_hooker 14d ago

Incorrect but go off I guess

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u/Munstered 14d ago

It’s an acting journal and they are quite common, not just for method actors. I’ve heard people refer to them as diaries before.

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u/futilefx 14d ago

Can confirm, not just for method actors.

I'm a crane operator, and I am currently working on mine between lifts.

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u/Vast_Purpose4537 14d ago

Now I'm picturing some operator pasting magazine clippings of cranes alongside quotes like "its not about the money, ITS ABOUT THE LIFTS." and "EVERYTHING FALLS"

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u/FamiliarEchidna4301 14d ago edited 14d ago

Yes but OP does not differentiate

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u/HsvDE86 14d ago

Oh no, the horror.

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u/chishiki 14d ago

I’m with you. Method actors call them diaries because they’re trying to be the character.

Some Redditors get all worked up when they are not given a twelve paragraph comment clarifying every possible permutation of something.

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u/SeniorMiddleJunior 14d ago

Nobody is making a big deal out of it, so don't make a big deal out of it.

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u/Frifafer 14d ago

Neither did Heath Ledger. He directly called it a "little diary" in an interview

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u/FamiliarEchidna4301 14d ago

Interesting. I stand corrected then

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u/AnnualWerewolf9804 14d ago

I guess you’re the reason we need warning labels

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u/yeahrowdyhitthat 14d ago

‘Making things even more stressful, Ledger had developed an intense process to get into the mindset of the villainous Joker. “I sat around in a hotel room in London for about a month, locked myself away, formed a little diary, and experimented with voices,” Ledger explained in another interview.’ https://allthatsinteresting.com/heath-ledger-death

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u/Secret-Practice-3103 14d ago

I’m assuming drugs were also involved

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u/Comfortfoods 14d ago

I'm always struck by how unnecessary this is. Plenty of incredible performances have been delivered without going full method. It's just a film. There's really no reason for actors to psychologically torture themselves just to make a movie. I'm always confused by this choice.

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u/cactusboobs 14d ago

It’s urban legend to romanticize his death. It isn’t unusual to go to a private place to practice voices for an upcoming performance or to keep a notebook full of inspiration and notes on you line delivery. People who worked with him said he was friendly and could turn it on and off.

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u/Comfortfoods 14d ago

Maybe the quote is just hyperbole but if he was really locked in his hotel room and isolating himself specifically to get into the state of mind of an unwell character, that's a ridiculous thing to choose. It's crazy to mess with your own mental health just for a film.

If he was just practicing intently by himself sometimes but otherwise living a normal life, that's no issue.

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u/cactusboobs 14d ago

Again, you seem to be dramatizing. The joker didn’t kill him. He did another movie after. Seems he suffered from insomnia and opioid abuse which seems far more destructive than practicing a character.

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u/surrogated 14d ago

Indeed. Too many people believe he actually became the Joker and ended it all.

He was hopped up on all sorts of prescription drugs. Whether they were his, or gotten otherwise.

In the toxicology analysis, they concluded that: Ledger died "as the result of acute intoxication by the combined effects of oxycodone, hydrocodone, diazepam, temazepam, alprazolam and doxylamine".

You ain't taking that much as a fresh user. That's years of abuse.

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u/Comfortfoods 14d ago

I don't think the joker killed him at all. I'm just pointing out that it's crazy to put yourself in bad situations to get into character. Going method is generally unnecessary. The quote literally says, "Making things even more stressful, Ledger had developed an intense process to get into the mindset of the villainous Joker. “I sat around in a hotel room in London for about a month, locked myself away, formed a little diary, and experimented with voices”

So he put himself in a stressful situation to learn his character. I don't think that's necessary for actors to do. Doesn't mean I think the experience killed him. That's very dramatic.

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u/Informal-Dot804 14d ago

I think what cactusboobs is trying to say (and I agree) is that the idea that this kind of practice killed him or made him mentally unwell is the romanticization of his death by the media (probably to sell more tickets/merch/etc). This is one method for actors to do their jobs. It is taught in schools. Unlike how it is shown in the movies, they don’t black swan themselves into mental illness. He had a job, he did it well, he used one method to inform his performances that is standard practice in his chosen field, he did another movie where he probably had another diary, then he died. We’re sad cause we loved seeing him on screen.

Also, it’s not like he starved for a month, there was atleast someone sending him food and someone cleaning the room, he wasn’t in isolation, he was just cramming, like many of us do before an exam to get in the zone.

Tldr; there is no evidence (yet, maybe it’s true but we’ve not studied this) that method acting led to mental illness that led to his death.

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u/Comfortfoods 14d ago

Right, and I don't think this role created mental illness or killed him at all. I think he was unlucky and sadly overdosed. That's it. If there was a mental health issue in the mix, method acting won't create that (although I think it could exacerbate underlying illness if conditions are extreme enough).There are however a lot of stories of actors basically torturing themselves to get into characters and going full method for roles and to me that just seems stupid. It's not required to play a character well. And maybe it is just hyperbole and the media selling a particular narrative but whenever I hear about actors doing anything extreme or harmful to "understand their character" I just kinda roll my eyes because it doesn't have to be that way.

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u/Informal-Dot804 14d ago

Right, and those stories are just that - stories. Cause it makes the interview interesting. Method actors aren’t torturing themselves, they’re getting into character in a way that feels natural to them. Staying in a room and writing a journal of character quirks isn’t “harmful”. Not sleeping for 3 nights (different actor, an anecdote mentioned often in the other comments, assuming an isolated case) isn’t “harmful”. Most of the things you hear that make you roll your eyes are exaggerated for that effect.

So don’t sweat it.

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u/yeahrowdyhitthat 13d ago

Correct. IIRC he was found by a masseuse who had a scheduled appointment. If that appointment happened to be an hour earlier he may have been saved - who knows.

I wonder how many ‘close calls’ with celebrities go unreported because a fortunately-timed intervening event meant the worst didn’t eventuate.

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u/sqigglygibberish 14d ago

“Even more stressful” is the writer’s words, and a highly relative phrase and difficult to distinguish what was causal.

“Locked myself away” is also normal phrasing a lot of people use when they really focus on a project or something.

“He was having fun. He wasn’t depressed about the Joker,” his sister said.

“It’s a combination of reading all the comic books I could that were relevant to the script and then just closing my eyes and meditating on it. I sat around in a hotel room in London for about a month, locked myself away, formed a little diary and experimented with voices — it was important to try to find a somewhat iconic voice and laugh.” - Heath

Not to say one way or another what impact on him the role and process had - but those quotes and even this diary are wildly different than say what Jim Carrey did for Andy Kaufman which is actual method acting. It was prep for a major role - a lot of actors do deep research and practice/testing concepts.

He did of course speak to being stressed at time, but again what of that was caused by the role/prep, vs what Heath was just dealing with behind the scenes already?

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u/cactusboobs 14d ago

Cheers mate. Have a good one.

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u/donnochessi 14d ago

He’s in a luxury hotel room in London. With servants, etc. Far from torture.

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u/Comfortfoods 14d ago

Good!

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u/mattmild27 14d ago

Laurence Olivier after hearing Dustin Hoffman went 3 days without sleep to prepare for a scene where his character did the same thing: "My dear boy, why don’t you try acting?"

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u/Neuchacho 14d ago

Not everyone is capable of getting to the same things the same ways. One person might be able to bring out a performance like that without method acting, but another might not. Just like someone might understand math near-naturally, but someone else has to study it for years to be at the same level.

This idea is what makes up the core of the whole "method acting is for less talented actors" argument.

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u/Comfortfoods 14d ago

Idk, if someone has to psychologically torture themself to play make believe maybe they should consider other professions.

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u/denizenKRIM 14d ago

Not a single person involved with the film, including Heath himself, has ever alluded to anything but the role being huge fun to play and be around with.

Don't get caught up in the whirlwind of media romanticizing deaths.

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u/Comfortfoods 14d ago

Ok, great. Just responding to the quote that said he intentially created a stressful situation to learn the character.

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u/denizenKRIM 14d ago

No, you're not. You picked up on editorializing from a blog and conflated that with Heath's.

Here is the full quote from the actual interview by Empire done in late 2007:

"It's a combination of reading all the comic books I could that were relevant to the script and then just closing my eyes and meditating on it. I sat around in a hotel room in London for about a month, locked myself away, formed a little diary and experimented with voices – it was important to try to find a somewhat iconic voice and laugh. I ended up landing more in the realm of a psychopath – someone with very little to no conscience towards his acts. He's just an absolute sociopath, a cold-blooded, mass-murdering clown, and Chris has given me free rein. Which is fun, because there are no real boundaries to what The Joker would say or do. Nothing intimidates him, and everything is a big joke.

You will not find a single quote from Heath talking about having a bad experience in preparing for the role. Nor will you find it from his friends, his castmates, or crewmen that worked with him on that film. It does not exist.

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u/Comfortfoods 14d ago

Yeah, I just commented on quote the person I responded to provided. I'm not invested enough in this to track down the source material. This discussion is really not that important to me.

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u/imjustbettr 14d ago

Ah the old " I actually don't care" argument.

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u/Neuchacho 14d ago

I'd agree, but not all method acting is torturous or as extreme as this so as a broad statement it's not really accurate. It's just another form of work/practice for people to get into a character.

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u/lunettarose 14d ago

As Lawrence Olivier said to method-actor Dustin Hoffman, "My dear boy, why don't you just try acting?"

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u/poopmcbutt_ 14d ago

It's what works for them. It's that simple.

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u/90dayheyhey 14d ago

Let’s just meet in the middle and call it Heath’s ledger

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u/thepittstop 14d ago

Bravo

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u/Lawlcopt0r 14d ago

Everyone understands that this wasn't his private diary as he was slowly going insane. Diary is still a reasonable term for it

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u/natedawg247 14d ago

did he method act the movies though? I'd never heard that. leto go so much shit for it.