British actor Sir Michael Caine described in his memoirs that watching his younger colleague Heath Ledger transform into the Joker on set was "terrifying".
Ledger played the iconic villain in Christopher Nolan's 2008 blockbuster, a role that many consider to have redefined, and which earned him an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. The young actor died in January 2008, four months before the film's release, of a drug overdose. He was 28 years old.
Caine, who played Alfred, Bruce Wayne's butler, in Christopher Nolan's trilogy, recalled what it was like working with Ledger in his book "Don't Look Back, You'll Trip Over: My Guide to Life."
"Smeared makeup, twisted hair, weird voice. It was creepy," Kane wrote.
"It absolutely knocked me to the floor when I first saw him in action - It was terrifying," the actor continues, adding that it also inspired everyone else on set to "step up their game."
Reflecting on the tragic death of his colleague, Caine wondered what would have happened in Ledger's career if he had remained alive.
"Heath was only 28 when he passed away. I didn't even make 'Zulu' when I was that old," Kane points out, alluding to his 1964 film.
"It makes you wonder what he would have achieved in his career, it's just heartbreaking," the actor concludes, pointing out that promoting "The Dark Knight" itself was particularly difficult for him under such circumstances.
"We were all in terrible shock, and it made the promotion of the film that summer much more intense, because all the journalists wanted to talk about his death," Kane writes in his memoirs, noting that he "still feels sad when he thinks about it."
According to him, Joker was "one of the best roles in the next few years."
"Although his career was cut short so quickly, he will be remembered as a great actor, I'm sure," Caine said.
Last year, friends of Heath Ledger revealed some new details about the actor's death. Director Stephen Gaghan said he received a call from the scene of the accident because his number was written on a script found on the actor's bedside table. He said he was at the airport with his wife at the time, and when he heard what had happened, he fainted.
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