Heath Heath Heath

[BelAir]

Heath's work will rise above all the ignorant nonsense anyway. 

Indeed.
 

[MilAn]

The Independant has a fan encounter on the set of Parnassus. Heath apparently suffered from severe back pain and was on meds for it. That's probably why he took painkillers next to his anxiety and sleep meds. :

http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/film-and-tv/features/heath-ledgers-final-cut-an-exculsive-onset-diary-864638.html

[Mikaela]

Oh, thank you for posting that! It was an interesting (and sad  ) read.

That bit about the back pain sounds entirely credible to me... 

I never knew Heath had a PA who kept trailing him. That kind of thing just didn't seem like *him*, somehow. 

Somehow, this following bit was what made the most impression on me, though I do not know how a casual extra would have known this, and it may therefore be a manufactured embellishment to the tale. Still....

When he wasn't on set he was back in his hotel room reading or watching some of the Oscar-nominated movies that, as a member of the Academy, he'd be asked to vote on.

It sounds so beleivable and typically Heath thay he'd not want to be as callous and casual as those moron Academy Members who even went on record about how they didn't bother to watch Brokeback before they voted back in 2006. In contrast, and based on the whole Brokeback disappointment, I can see Heath taking his responsibility very seriously and feeling an obligation to his fellow filmmakers/actors to vote only based on performances he'd actually seen and reflected on.

[optom3]

The Independant has a fan encounter on the set of Parnassus. Heath apparently suffered from severe back pain and was on meds for it. That's probably why he took painkillers next to his anxiety and sleep meds. :

http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/film-and-tv/features/heath-ledgers-final-cut-an-exculsive-onset-diary-864638.html

Thnaks for posting that link and the others it allow you to access. Some really nice things to read.Not overly sentimental, but brimming with respect and an undercurrent of sadness for all the portrayals we will never see.

[Meryl]

Thanks for posting that article, MilAn.  If it's true, I'm glad to know a little bit more about Heath's last days doing what he loved.  I'm with Mikaela, though, in taking it with a grain of salt.  That extra is certainly a good writer and knows how to make the most of his story.  I wonder if he may have told it to someone else who then wrote it up for him.  At any rate, it just makes it all the more clear to me that Heath was tired and taking too many meds.  What a terrible price he paid for trusting too much in those meds and to his own youth and strength! 

[MilAn]

You are welcome!

Bad news, first bad review for Heath and TDK  : http://nymag.com/movies/reviews/48514/

I think they should tone down the hype a bit, maybe it has a bad influence on critics? Hope that's one of the few negative rev's for Heath.

[Penthesilea]

Good morning Heathens

[Shasta542]

Gary Oldman on Heath:

http://movies.msn.com/movies/hitlist/07-11-08_3/?GT1=28101&

[optom3]

You are welcome!

Bad news, first bad review for Heath and TDK  : http://nymag.com/movies/reviews/48514/

I think they should tone down the hype a bit, maybe it has a bad influence on critics? Hope that's one of the few negative rev's for Heath.

I did not find his review of Heath that negative.
What was bone chilling,  was when he writes, scarier than what the joker does to anyone on screen, is what Heath must have been doing to himself.
Now I know I will not be able to go and see the film.
I know all his co stars said he was relaxed when not in character, but what do we ever really know of what goes on in someones head.
I remember reading a rue story about a British P.O.W.  who was in Colditz,at the time if you were proved "mad" you could be sent back home.Whereapon you snapped back to sanity and off to fight the Germans again.
It was a was a dangerous game he played and after 6/12 of acting "mad", he finally succumbed to insanity. It was a chilling tale.
I am not implying ,before I get shot down in flames that Heath was mad.I do think that he missed his daughter terribly, he of his own admisssion locked himself in a room for a month to get to grips with the Jokers character and voice.
I suspect he was having enormous trouble sleeping and relaxing, plus back problems, hence the combination of meds he had.
He also seemed to have broken one of his rules in that, he liked to take on a light hearted role following a dark one.The Imaginarium does not seem to have been of that genre.
I suspect though will never know, that he was on that fine line when you will do just about anything to quiet your mind and get sme relaxation and sleep.
I have been pretty close to that myself.

[Fran]

Maggie Gyllenhaal on working with Heath in "The Dark Knight": 

"I think what Heath does in the movie is extraordinary and unusual and rare and special even for the most talented and experienced actors. He hits this stride where he is totally free in the movie and I think when that happens it bleeds out onto everyone around you. Acting with him, even though the scene was very scary and when I watched it was full of tension I actually had a great time working with him because anything I threw at him he would take it and threw all sorts of amazing things at me. It was what you always hope for."

Full interview:  http://www.ropeofsilicon.com/article/maggie_gyllenhaal_opens_up_about_her_role_in_the_dark_knight