Heath Lodger’s journey towards mastering this character is a remarkable one. Every movie enthusiast should be familiar with the following facts about his struggle and hard work:
1. Method acting
An actor who is passionate about his job wants to get as intimate with his character as possible. The key is not to see the character as an “other” but adopt it as though it has replaced your soul. Method acting is one of finest the ways to embrace your role. It is when an actor remains in the character off-camera and before the official shooting starts. Heath, however, took this manner to the next level by locking himself up in a cheap motel for 43 days to experience the isolation that his character must relate to. Thus he literally went through the psychological making of the Joker. Talking about this exercise he said, “I sat around in a hotel room in London for about a month, locked myself away, formed a little diary and experimented with voices — it was important to try to find a somewhat iconic voice and laugh. I ended up landing more in the realm of a psychopath — someone with very little to no conscience towards his acts.”
2. Alex de Large and the Joker
You can see a reflection of Alex de Large from the movie A Clockwork Orange in the Joker’s character. Alex was a guy who committed crimes like murder, robbery, and rape for the sake of pleasure. He isn’t blind to the evil he’s engaged in but can’t help quitting his amusement. “You can’t have a society with everybody behaving in my manner of the night.” , he says. The director of The Dark Knight, Christopher Nolan was inspired by Alex and wanted the joker to act like him.
3. Vicious’ appearance
Sid Vicious’ looks distinguish him from other rock stars. He has his own fashion sense that makes him appear like quite a creep. This is why Christopher Nolan wanted to cast his lookalike.
4. Flicking tongue
Heath had a natural habit of flickering his tongue but he enhanced it after he was cast as the Joker. It not only made the Joker look creepier but his vocals required his mouth to be moist all the time. This shows how much thoughtful the actor had been to give his best to the movie.
5. Natural talent
The Joker has been played by actors that were formally trained and immensely popular. Heath had no previous experience and was completely self-taught. Thus his skills were inborn and he did his maximum to polish and utilize them.
6. The scars
The scars on the Joker’s face are the characters landmark and add a lot more drama. They were not originally there in the books but were added being inspired by Gyonplaine from Victor Hugo’s novel The Man Who Laughs. They and the legendary dialogue “Why so serious?” will never be forgotten.
7. Drugstore makeup
While Heath was staying in the motel, he got himself some drugstore makeup, as he thought the Joker will do. He created a look all by himself, without any help from anyone. All that the makeup artists had to do was to replicate the look. That is how original was his work. This quality indeed makes him one of his kind.
8. The mask
The Joker is seen wearing a mask when he goes to rob a bank in the beginning of the movie. That wasn’t a random mask but resembled the one worn by Cesar Romero in the 1961 Batman TV series. It was thus a memory and a tribute to the original Joker.
9. The round of applause
In the movie scene when Gordon is promoted, the Joker starts to clap. This wasn’t a part of the script but Heath improvised it on the moment. The director asked the shocked crew to keep filing, realizing that this new addition will make it all the more interesting.
10. Staying in the costume
Heath used to change his get up right after his working hours ended. But sometimes before the shooting began, he used to walk or skate around in his costume. During this time, he was his original self, a light-hearted, happy individual. Thus, all his co-stars knew that his character was very different from how he is as a person. This makes the fans appreciate his efforts even more.
11. Scary diary
Heath maintained a diary while he lived in isolation. In this diary, he narrated the Joker’s melancholy and wrote psychopathic stories that must surround such a person’s life. He used to go back to those pages before he shot a scene just to refresh the whole idea in his mind and to recall his memories of the time when he spent those lonely days as the Joker.
12. The hospital explosion
When the Joker escapes the hospital, the hospital building explodes behind him. It wasn’t supposed to happen at that moment but later. Health not only remained in his senses when this unexpected this happened but also kept acting because he knew that recreating the exploding scene will cost the producer a lot of money. He finished the scene in the most charming manner possible, saving time and preventing a huge financial loss. He alone coordinated the thing he does with the button in this scene.
13. Petrified
The scene in which the Joker enters the ballroom to crash the Wayne enterprises party, his looks actually scared Micheal Caine and Maggie Gyllenhaal who were seeing him in the makeup for the first time. They were in fact so petrified that Micheal forgot his lines and Maggie started to look away. This made the scene look more realistic.
14. Desire to be the hero
Heath actually wished to play the hero AKA Batman but Christian Bale was chosen for the role. However, his talent could not be ignored and the director offered him the role of the Joker. It wouldn’t be wrong to say that this was the best for him. Had the roles been switched, the movie wouldn’t have been such a hit.
15. Madness
In the movie where Batman hits the Joker, Heath asked Christian Bale to do that in reality. He went through all that physical pain just so the scene would look realistic. Only a crazily dedicated actor would do that.
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