Via Edward Copeland on Film. Please share your thoughts in the comments section.
UPDATE: Some remembrances from Jim Emerson, Brendon Bouzard, Glenn Kenny, and Sheila O'Malley.
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Heath Ledger (April 4, 1979 - January 22nd, 2008)
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24 comments:
A sad sad day for cinema.
Also, nothing ever goes right for Terry Gilliam.r
So sorry to hear about this. He was a damn good actor.
Incredible. So sad.
Brad Renfro this week, now Heath Ledger.
I am already dreading the inevitable thinkpieces (and I use the word in jest) in every major publication in America asking, "What is it about Hollywood that claims our best young actors?"
The answer: Hollywood doesn't make people depressed (Owen Wilson, probably Ledger) or self-destructive (Renfro, Lohan, Spears, et al). It's in one's body chemistry and one's recent and distant past, with environmental factors sometimes making things worse or better.
The guy had charisma and chops. I often saw him around Brooklyn, pushing his kid in a stroller. We made eye contact once as he was going into his house with his kid. He made that face I've seen celebrities make when they are recognized: the flash of recognition, the turtle-like recoil, the aversion of the eyes. Just some guy who happened to be world famous trying to live a normal life.
What a loss.
This just wasn’t supposed to happen. Heath Ledger was one of those rare actors with an instinct and intelligence far beyond his years. You knew he’d just get better with age, grow into his preternatural abilities, and there rests the tragedy. “Brokeback Mountain” has suddenly become “Giant” for me.
Unexpected, Devastating. I'm currently speechless. The man was at the top of his game.
A shock, and extremely depressing.
I'd like to know -- if it's at all possible to determine -- if it was a suicide attempt or not. On one hand, it seems like it'd be hard to OD on OTC sleeping pills by mistake. On the other, why would he schedule a massage appointment if he was planning to kill himself?
It doesn't make any sense. Just terrible, terrible news.
Obviously this throws The Dark Knight and particularly The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus into chaos. But that's neither here nor there right now.
Jesus. I was just thinking about him earlier today.
Very upsetting.
Not looking forward to the "why" pieces either.
I've loved Ledger since I saw him in A Knight's Tale, which I still unfailingly watch if I catch it in late-night rotation on one of the movie channels. He had this easy charm and grace, so very appealing. My love for him was cemented when he did the ridiculous, OTT "I love you baby" show-stopper number in Ten Things I Hate About You, which I think I'm supposed to hate, but it has Heath Ledger in it so I can't.
This sucks.
Rest in peace.
My good friend sent me the news via text message. I couldn't speak: I thrust my phone at my other good friend with whom I happened to be walking around campus.
"What? Let's check. This ..."
"Uh, ... right. Wait, where?"
"Over here."
People.com confirmed the news. I sent this text back: "Wow. So sad." Then, in line for a coffee two minutes later, I said, "Why am I so sad? I don't know the guy. But, shit, this is like, I dunno, too much."
"Yeah. Now is not the time for this. Like, uh, I just don't want it to happen right this instant."
"Wow. I, just, well... I don't want to read about it. I'm hurt? I liked the guy. A lot. He was one of the young stars I wanted to watch for a while. What the fuck?"
We ran into a professor buddy and we three commiserated. Luckily we got to talking about more pleasant things but before that we agreed that it's been a while since talented, young stars were falling like this. And it might signal something. What that something is, and what might follow it, we/I don't know. But it could be big. And hopefully it will keep talented young people alive longer. Art sure is important.
This is also particularly devastating since my friends and I were just recently getting so excited not just for The Dark Knight but his career in general. Like, literally a week ago. Ah, heck. The semester can only get better, right?
Say what you want about Brokeback, but Heath Ledger's performance is one of the decade's outstanding performances, in my humble opinion worthy of being mentioned in the same breath as Clift and Brando. It was sexy and emotionally devastating, in the great old tradition. This is inexpressibly sad.
This has really unsettled me. Just two days ago, I was sitting in a chair extolling his virtues as an actor and hailing him as one of the greats (if not now, then future) of his generation. It's a great loss for us all and a tragedy for his family.
I just don't believe it. I keep waiting for somebody to tell me he's okay. I know it's lame, but I want to cry. Maybe I'll watch one of his movies tonight. Maybe 10 THINGS, since it's got a happy ending. I'm stealing Cuyler's word: WOUCH.
I was kinda knocked off my feet when I turned on the television and saw that one of this generations finest young actors had died. It's so tragic when people so gifted are also self destructive. It's like River all over again.
I was initially inclined to think Ledger took his own life, too, but it's not a good idea to speculate about things like this.
The (still being reported) Times article says:
"Police officials said that a bottle of prescription sleeping pills were found on a nearby night table, but that they did not know whether the pills had anything to do with Mr. Ledger’s death. Officers who checked the apartment found other prescription medications in the bathroom. A spokeswoman for the medical examiner’s office said an autopsy would be conducted on Wednesday.
Mr. Browne said no obvious indication of suicide, like a note, was found in the bedroom."
The cause of death might be not suicide by pills, or pills plus drink, or drugs, but something nobody's thought of yet.
I have nothing to add, or anything. I'm just really sad. He had a gift. Too young.
Like River Phoenix and others Ledger's passing leaves a hole on the world. As an actor he is totally irreplaceable. Goddamnit.
Ken Cancelosi
I've never been one to put too much thought into Ledger's career, but it's odd that it occurred to me recently upon seeing I'm Not There. I found his performance to be the most convincing of them all in the portrayal of someone seriously weighing the iconic and domestic spheres of their life (especially in comparison to Bale's).
The cause of death might be not suicide by pills, or pills plus drink, or drugs, but something nobody's thought of yet.
TMZ was reporting that he had pneumonia, which could very well have been a factor if true. And a New Zealand paper is running a statement from Ledger's father referring to the death as an accident--surprisingly definitive language for someone in Australia and not New York, especially when the autopsy is still hours away.
Terrible news. Heath was a real talent, fearless in his choice of roles.
Terrible news. Of all the current crop of young Hollywood "studio projects," Ledger was the one destined for greatness.
I hear Michelle Williams is in Sundance promoting a film (though other sources say she was filming in Sweden) about a woman dealing with the death of her husband, and that she is now flying to NY.
As I said on Edward's blog, it's a fucking shame. It really is.
It's so sad.
Even though I never knew him it's know a huge hole in my heart.
Strange.
The loss of Heath Ledger has, among other things, put me in mind of the last few lines from Anne Sexton's poem "Locked Doors." In it, someone describes a heaven/hell inhabited by angels whose "shape constantly changes," and concludes by saying this:
I would like to unlock that door,
turn the rusty key
and hold each fallen one in my arms
but I cannot, I cannot.
I can only sit here on earth
at my place at the table.
That about sums up the feelings of longing and helplessness that accompany grief as well as anything I know.
He was the greatest actor of his generation. I nearly included a line in my review of I'm Not There (just two months ago, a time that now seems much more remote) to that effect -- that as Robbie Clark, Ledger reaffirmed his status as a selfless, risk-taking original. I don't remember why I didn't leave that in -- perhaps it seemed self-evident; maybe I thought I'd be writing about him so often in the future, I might very well express my admiration another time.
Although with him, what I felt watching him on screen went beyond that. There are actors whom we admire, and then there are actors with whom you fall in love. To experience their work is to love them, and Heath was one of those.
A.O. Scott's piece in the Times earlier today certainly expressed that, in altogether different words.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/24/movies/24appr.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin
After Ledger, who is there? No one even comes close.
Last October, when I met Ang Lee, more than anything I wanted to talk to him about Heath and Brokeback. (Like good professionals, we honored our commitment to discuss Lust, Caution first and foremost.) Toward the end, I asked Ang if Heath had been a joy to work with. That his answer was yes wasn't surprising, but what that lead into was. What Ang told me didn't make it into the newspaper version of our chat, but I incorporated it into the postscript here.
http://moviesintofilm.com/img/ang_lee_session.htm
Ledger will be missed. My God, he already is.
I remember discussing "Monster's Ball" with Godfrey Cheshire after a screening. We disagreed on the merits of all the major performances, except Heath Ledger's -- which impressed us both mightily, particular since it came after Ledger's performance in "The Patriot," which was in a very different mode. "What an actor," Godfrey said. "I think he's amazing, and he's only going to get better."
How much better, we'll never know.
Here's Ledger discussing "Brokeback Mountain" on "The Charlie Rose Show."
"He's a character of potential," he said, describing Ennis.
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