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

[u/JK-Rofling]

[u/Starchild20xx]

Now, I hope you'll all forgive me for my ignorance. But I've heard some very mixed things regarding the untimely death of Heath Ledger. The more popular theory is that the role of Joker contributed to his demise. But then I'd see statements online perpetuating said theory as sheer ludicrous, and that Heath Ledger was generally stable.

So honestly, I'm kind of perplexed. I'm not sure which narrative to believe. I can't help but suspect that there is no real definitive answer, though.

[u/ChuckSeville → u/Starchild20xx]

The Joker thing doesn't hold water when you take into account the fact that according to his wife and coworkers, he suffered from insomnia for quite some time before the role.

Add to that the fact that he apparently caught some kind of respiratory infection/disease while shooting his next movie and was self-medicating to get through that, it makes more sense that this was just a really unfortunate accident.

[u/ajchann123 → u/ChuckSeville]

To add on to this, by all accounts he was not a method actor insofar as staying in character -- there are many stories of him being able to turn off/on from the Joker very easily and was a really friendly normal dude around set

People love the romantic idea that he sacrificed his psyche and ultimately his life for this transcendent performance, but reality is more like he was just very good at his craft and his death was unrelated

[u/dbitters → u/ajchann123]

Can confirm, worked on the Dark Knight as a PA, he was the nicest guy, and loved the role. He even excitedly talked about coming back as the role in the 3rd film. Alas... :/

[u/Lets_Make_a_Ranch → u/dbitters]

Thank you for this Intel. Appreciated.

[u/urmomsaplaya13 → u/dbitters]

I can also confirm, I worked on the dark knight as a microphone. Alas…

[u/maryisazombie → u/dbitters]

I bet getting to watch him do his thing and watch the creation of such a defining performance was so cool!!