Chaotek Thoughts

I’m really looking forward to seeing The Dark Knight, the new Batman movie out this summer. Why you may ask, because of Heath Ledger. According to sources, Ledger portrayed the Joker as a truly insane, depraved villain. Perhaps even the most twisted villain in cinema history. To get into the role, Ledger took a trip to the dark side–delving into the mind of a madman. He got so involved in the character that he commented to friends that sometimes the character didn’t go away after the cameras stopped rolling. For months after the film was done shooting, Ledger still couldn’t let go. According to news reports, Ledger suffered from insomnia as well other less defined conditions as a result of the character. So much so that he accidentally overdosed on pain medication and sleeping pills. Sounds like it’s going to be an AWESOME movie!

Stories like this get me thinking. Method acting, or The Method, is a style of acting where the actor tries to really get into the role. Sometimes this means hanging out with handicapped kids, prisoners, and rock stars. Heath Ledger went insane for his character. It makes you think about how he prepared for Brokeback Mountain…

On a more positive note, perhaps we can find some other depraved roles for some of Hollywood’s other method actors. Maybe that would get the Oscars down to a tolerable 90 minutes, like most of the crap Hollywood churns out these days, if we got other actors too involved in some twisted roles. Maybe put someone in the lead role for the story of Kurt Cobain, the Life and Times of Caligula or Dinner with Jeffrey Dommer?