Tag Archives: Heath Ledger

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How far will an actor go to achieve perfection?

Image shows actor Christian Bale in a scene for the film The Machinist.
Image shows actor Christian Bale in a scene for the film The Machinist.

Image via: IGN.com

For many actors, the role is more than just learning the lines. Actors are often required to push their bodies to the limits as well as prepare themselves mentally. The transformations that ensue are often quite staggering.

Christian Bale is a notable actor for transforming his body for a role. For several roles he has lost weight, built muscle and even gained weight. This constant fluctuation is certainly no easy feat. For his role in insomniac thriller, The Machinist, Christian Bale reportedly lost 28.5kg. To lose this weight, Christian relied on a strict diet of a single serving of fish and 1 piece of fruit a day. Currently, Christian holds the record for the most amount of weight lost for any role, and it certainly shows. His biggest achievement however, was for his next role.

After production was finished for The Machinist, Christian Bale was cast as Batman in Christopher Nolan’s reboot. Bale was tasked with reaching a typical Batman like physique something that wasn’t evident in The Machinist. A high carb diet and intensive muscle workouts results in Christian Bale gaining 44.9 KG over the course of production.

Recently, Christian had to get fatter for his role in American Hustle, eating an abundant amount of fast food. He certainly has quite the belly in the film.

In terms of mental preparation, the late Heath Ledger certainly wins the award for his commitment to the role of the Joker in The Dark Knight. Heath threw himself at the role of the main antagonist, locking himself in a room for weeks on end, with only himself for company. During this time, Heath Ledger wrote a diary and practiced his speech, really getting into character. One of his diary entries read that, “I ended up landing more in the realm of a psychopath – someone with very little to no conscience towards his acts.”

As his performance shows, Heath Ledger certainly grasped the character of the Joker including subtleties such as mannerisms and facial expression. I’m you’ll agree, the voice he used, is chilling and memorable to say the least. Speaking of which Heath Ledger is believed to have taken inspiration from an interview conducted with singer Tom Waits in 1979. You can certainly see the similarities in the interview below.

Acting isn’t just about saying the right lines for many actors. The lengths actors go to in order to achieve the perfect role is clearly extraordinary.

 

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This week in history: 20th – 26th January

A whole six years ago on January 22nd 2008 Heath Ledger died from an accidental overdose of prescription pills. When he passed away, the 28 year-old actor was in the prime of his career. He was in the middle of filming The Imaginarium of Dr Parnassus. After some clever re-writing, Johnny Depp, Jude Law and Colin Farrell were cast to complete Ledger’s role as a man who changed his appearance as he travelled between imaginary worlds. Depp, Law and Farrell all gave their earnings from the film to Ledger’s daughter Matilda.

The last film that Heath Ledger completed was Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight in which Ledger played Batman’s nemesis The Joker. His incredibly performance won him over thirty posthumous awards including an Oscar for best supporting actor.

On this day in 1961, Disney’s 101 Dalmatians was released. The film was a bit of a risk for the studio, their previous animated feature, Sleeping Beauty, failed to make even half of the $6 million production costs.

In light of this loss the animation team was reduced fivefold and xerography, a new, cheaper form of animation was introduced. 101 Dalmatians was the first feature film to use this technique. Xerography was a new photocopying technology which resulted in hard black outlines on the animations, a contrast to Disney’s previous soft feel. However, Disney needn’t have worried; 101 Dalmatians became the highest grossing film of 1961.

The original novel was written by Dodie Smith. Bill Peet, the writer, kept in close contact with her while screenwriting and he made a fair few changes. The Dalmatian protagonists were originally Pongo and Missus Pongo, Perdita was a stray, taken in to help wet nurse the puppies. The owners, Mr and Mrs Dearly, were originally named Roger and Anita Radcliffe. Although in the 1996 Disney live action version they are again named Roger and Anita. The changes were welcomed by Smith who felt that the Disney studios were improving on her story.

29 years on in 1990, Ava Gardner died aged 67. The pin-up actress’ biggest films included The Killers (1946) a crime drama where Gardner played Kitty Collins and On the Beach (1959) a Sci-Fi drama also starring Gregory Peck. Gardner once met J.R.R Tolkien at Oxford University in 1964, but neither knew that the other was famous.

Image via imovies-guide.com

Image via imovies-guide.com

Do you have any interesting facts or trivia that you want to share with us? If so, tweet us @Inside_Film!

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The most infamous film villains

A close-up of Darth Vader mask.

Remember at the end of last year I wrote the Inside Film top 5 film heroes list? Well, here comes the darker side of the list. Within you will find the most evil, most badass villains in film. Ready? Don’t be afraid.

5. Annie Wilkes

Annie Wilkes holding a revolver and a syringe.

Image via: frenchtoastsunday.com

For anyone who has seen Stephen King’s Misery, this comes as no surprise. Perhaps not the scariest of his film adaptations, but wow, it sure is creepy. This comes as no surprise. Annie Wilkes is one messed up chick. I don’t think I have ever been this scared of a middle-aged woman before. Worst moment? When Paul Sheldon is searching the house, and you just know she’ll be through the door at any moment…

4. Anton Chigurh

Anton Chigurh sat in a chair.

Image via: theparisreview.org

No Country for Old Men. What a film. Personally, I think it is made by the psychotic-perfection of this man. A gun-for-hire with a twisted devotion to chance. Silenced shotguns are super sinister too. Worst moment has to be the murder of Carla Jean. Talk about bloody.

3. Hannibal Lecter

Hannibal Lecter, played by Anthony Hopkins, stood by a door.

Image via: http://yourfavoriteserialkiller.com/

“Bowels in, or bowels out?” An insane genius who loves the taste of human. Pretty much writes itself here. Hannibal Lecter is perfected by Anthony Hopkins and his magnetic charm. He’ll get into your head and stay there, trust me. Worst moment has to be when he makes a drugged Ray Liotta munch on his own brain in Hannibal. Pretty messed up right?

2. The Joker

Heath Ledger's Joker holding a Joker playing card.

Image via: nerdsraging.com

The thing that makes The Joker so terrifying is that he has no aims. No goals for world domination, or personal gain. He just wants to watch the world burn, and that’s truly horrific. Jack Nicholson’s Joker gets an honourable mention here, but it’s the genius of Heath Ledger that gets our vote. Worst moment? The pencil trick in The Dark Knight– not even his own goons are safe.

1. Darth Vader

Darth Vader stood in front of Snowtroopers on Hoth, the snow planet.

Image via: fightersgeneration.com

The ultimate evil. Cloaked in black, a true personification of evil. Darth Vader wins by a long shot. The iconic breathing sound makes it all so tense, and the sheer power that he exudes makes him our top contender. Vader casts a shadow over all film villains, and none can step out from under it. At his most evil when he crushes the throat of a subordinate without a sound. Plus, you know, trying to kill his son.

So, any more ideas? Tell us below who you think deserves to be on this list of evil.

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Surprising improvisation in film

A man in a hospital gown wearing smudged clown make up walks away from a hospital explostion
A man in a hospital gown wearing smudged clown make up walks away from a hospital explostion

Image via forum.blu-ray.com

Not all of our favourite moments in film were planned. In fact, many magic movie moments were
not in the script at all. Inside Film has been looking into just a few moments in film that you
probably didn’t know were improvised.

The Dark Knight: Hospital Explosion
During the filming of the second instalment of Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy, a scene
involving blowing up a hospital should have been a failure, had it not been for the late Heath
Ledger thinking quickly on his feet.
Originally, Ledger was supposed to walk out of the Hospital only for it to explode immediately
behind him. However, the detonations were delayed and only one small explosion went off.
The building used for the scene had already been planned to be demolished and Nolan only had one chance to film the shot. Superbly, Ledger stayed fully in character, frantically poking and prodding at his detonator as the bombs exploded in random sequence behind him, allowing the scene which should have been a disaster to become one of the most iconic moments in modern film.

The Shining: “Here’s Johnny”
Considered one of director Stanley Kubrick’s best productions and one of the greatest horror/thriller movies of all time, The Shining boasts one of the most recognised moments in modern movie history.The line occurs during a scene where lead character Jack Torrance, now completely insane, is trying to murder his wife, who has locked herself in a bathroom for safety.
Originally, Kubrick, considered by some as quite the perfectionist, only wanted Jack Nicholson to break through a door with an axe, but what followed was to become most one the famous lines in film. As Nicholson breaks a hole in the door, he pokes his head through and says “Here’s Johnny”, in typical, maniac fashion. The line was taking from the late night TV show “The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson” and was an imitation of Announcer Ed McMahon’s introduction. Based in England at the time, Kubrick later admitted he had never heard the line before but decided to use it anyway.

Taxi Driver: “You talkin’ to me?”
The script read “Travis speaks to himself in the mirror”, but what Robert De Niro said would be
declared as the tenth greatest movie quote of all time (the winner was “Frankly, my dear, I don’t
give a damn” and become the most memorable moment in Martin Scorsese’s classic Taxi Driver.

A young De Niro, about to showcase his talent, turns to the mirror and says “You talkin’ to me?”
What followed would be carved into Pop Culture history forever. Originally, the idea was thought to be an imitation of Marlon Brando. However, actor /musician Clarence Clemons, who played for Bruce Springsteen and had a role in Scorsese’s 1977 musical “New York, New York”, revealed that De Niro got his inspiration for the scene from The Boss himself.