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- tejastech08
- Rep: 194
Re: HEATH LEDGER DEAD
Chris Nolan, director of The Dark Knight, wrote this article for Newsweek:
One night, as I'm standing on LaSalle Street in Chicago, trying to line up a shot for "The Dark Knight," a production assistant skateboards into my line of sight. Silently, I curse the moment that Heath first skated onto our set in full character makeup. I'd fretted about the reaction of Batman fans to a skateboarding Joker, but the actual result was a proliferation of skateboards among the younger crew members. If you'd asked those kids why they had chosen to bring their boards to work, they would have answered honestly that they didn't know. That's real charisma'”as invisible and natural as gravity. That's what Heath had.
Heath was bursting with creativity. It was in his every gesture. He once told me that he liked to wait between jobs until he was creatively hungry. Until he needed it again. He brought that attitude to our set every day. There aren't many actors who can make you feel ashamed of how often you complain about doing the best job in the world. Heath was one of them.
One time he and another actor were shooting a complex scene. We had two days to shoot it, and at the end of the first day, they'd really found something and Heath was worried that he might not have it if we stopped. He wanted to carry on and finish. It's tough to ask the crew to work late when we all know there's plenty of time to finish the next day. But everyone seemed to understand that Heath had something special and that we had to capture it before it disappeared. Months later, I learned that as Heath left the set that night, he quietly thanked each crew member for working late. Quietly. Not trying to make a point, just grateful for the chance to create that they'd given him.
Those nights on the streets of Chicago were filled with stunts. These can be boring times for an actor, but Heath was fascinated, eagerly accepting our invitation to ride in the camera car as we chased vehicles through movie traffic'”not just for the thrill ride, but to be a part of it. Of everything. He'd brought his laptop along in the car, and we had a high-speed screening of two of his works-in-progress: short films he'd made that were exciting and haunting. Their exuberance made me feel jaded and leaden. I've never felt as old as I did watching Heath explore his talents. That night I made him an offer'”knowing he wouldn't take me up on it'”that he should feel free to come by the set when he had a night off so he could see what we were up to.
When you get into the edit suite after shooting a movie, you feel a responsibility to an actor who has trusted you, and Heath gave us everything. As we started my cut, I would wonder about each take we chose, each trim we made. I would visualize the screening where we'd have to show him the finished film'”sitting three or four rows behind him, watching the movements of his head for clues to what he was thinking about what we'd done with all that he'd given us. Now that screening will never be real. I see him every day in my edit suite. I study his face, his voice. And I miss him terribly.
Back on LaSalle Street, I turn to my assistant director and I tell him to clear the skateboarding kid out of my line of sight when I realize'”it's Heath, woolly hat pulled low over his eyes, here on his night off to take me up on my offer. I can't help but smile.
- tejastech08
- Rep: 194
Re: HEATH LEDGER DEAD
Daniel Day-Lewis is the classiest person in Hollywood.
Tonight at the SAG Awards, he dedicated his Best Actor award to Heath. His speech was about Heath's performances and how much he enjoyed them and how sad he was to see such a young talent go so soon. He was on Oprah the other day and he interrupted her questions to talk about Heath for a bit and he admitted that he did not know Heath, but said that he had a strong feeling that he would have liked him a lot if they had known each other. He said that he loved his work and he got emotional while talking about the situation. To come back and dedicate the award to him is incredibly classy. He's an amazing person, no doubt about it. He's also the best actor in the world. It's not often that you get a combination of an amazingly talented person AND an amazingly humble, caring person as well. Hollywood is loaded with arrogant pricks. DDL is a role model for everyone out there, particularly his peers in Hollywood. His speech tonight put tears in my eyes.
Re: HEATH LEDGER DEAD
Fate of Ledger's last films uncertain
Gilliam, WB mull fate of 'Knight,' 'Parnassus'Ledger as the Joker in Dark Knight
One day after Heath Ledger's death, Hollywood was still figuring out how to proceed on the two projects most immediately affected.Production on Terry Gilliam's indie "The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus" has temporarily shut down, while Warner execs are still determining how to adjust their marketing campaign on "The Dark Knight," which is keyed to Ledger's Joker character in its early stages.
"Parnassus" has three options: Replace Ledger in the role, shoot around him or shut down the production entirely. The insurance company will likely determine which option the producers take.
Samuel Hadida, Bill Vince and Amy Gilliam are producing the $30 million indie, which is largely financed through Hadida's Paris-based Davis Film. Ledger's involvement was a key factor in raising the coin.
Over the years other productions have employed a variety of techniques to work around the death of the actors portraying major characters. For better or worse, advancements in CGI and digital effects made it easier for producers to finish "Gladiator" and an episode of "The Sopranos" after the deaths of Oliver Reed and Nancy Marchand, respectively.
In other instances they have used stunt doubles to finish projects or reworked scenes after the star's death. James Dean's final scene in "Giant," for example, had to be looped after his death in a car crash because he mumbled so much in the shot. When Brandon Lee died during an accident on set during production of "The Crow," director Alex Proyas used a stunt double to complete scenes; Lee's face was added using special effects. That film was days away from completion, however. Similarly, a look-alike for Natalie Wood was used after her drowning death during production of "Brainstorm."
The producers used several techniques to finish "Wagons East" after John Candy died of heart failure, rewriting scenes or using a body double.
Further back, Louis B. Mayer threatened to scrap "Saratoga," when Jean Harlow died suddenly, but relented after fans demanded he release it; a body double finished the remaining scenes with her back to the camera.
River Phoenix was supposed to co-star in "Interview With the Vampire," but when he died, they recast Christian Slater in the role. He was working on another film called "Dark Blood" which was scuttled entirely.
And Chris Farley was working on "Shrek" for DreamWorks when he died; Mike Myers took over the lead voice role after his "Saturday Night Live" cohort overdosed in 1997.
Warners has a different predicament with "The Dark Knight." Production on Christopher Nolan's "Batman Begins" sequel is believed to largely completed -- principal photography concluded in the fall -- but the initial marketing campaign focuses on the ghoulish Joker character.
To complicate matters further, the studio has just restructured its marketing operation. International marketing topper Sue Kroll now oversees all marketing for the studio in the wake of the exit of former domestic marketing president Dawn Taubin, who developed the "Dark Knight" campaign.
Kroll will likely have to move quickly to rejigger the studio's current phase of the marketing campaign for "Dark Knight," focusing on Ledger's Joker character. This phase of the campaign had been set to run until March.
Ledger's death is just the latest production snafu to afflict Gilliam. He started shooting "Parnassus" in early December and was due to wrap in March. Production segued from London to Vancouver this week.
Ledger was the biggest name in an ensemble cast including Christopher Plummer, Lily Cole and Tom Waits. Story concerns an ancient traveling show that arrives in modern London with a magic mirror that can transport its audience into fantastical realms of the imagination. Plummer plays the impresario Dr. Parnassus, and Ledger took the role of a mysterious outsider who joins the troupe on a quest through parallel worlds to save the doctor's daughter (Cole) from the clutches of the devil (Waits).
Gilliam previously weathered a problem that plagued shoot of "The Man Who Killed Don Quixote," dealing with flash floods and the injury of star Jean Rochefort before ultimately scrapping the production.
Ledger's death also came as he was working on what would have been his feature directing debut, an adaptation of the Walter Tevis novel "The Queen's Gambit," with British writer-producer Allan Scott.
The leading role of a young female chess prodigy had been offered to Oscar nominee Ellen Page. Ledger, a skilled chess player, was due to play a supporting role.
In an interview last month, a few days after shooting started on "Parnassus," Gilliam said, "Heath is extraordinary. He's just so good, and he's going to be a film director. He's watching everything, and he's going to be a much better director than I will ever be."
(Adam Dawtrey, Tatiana Siegel and Pamela McClintock contributed to this report.)
- DoubleTalkingJive
- Rep: 74
Re: HEATH LEDGER DEAD
NYC medical examiner rules Ledger died of accidental overdose
By Amy Westfeldt, The Associated Press
NEW YORK - Actor Heath Ledger died of an accidental overdose of prescription drugs that included painkillers, sleeping pills and anti-anxiety medication, the New York City medical examiner said Wednesday."Mr. Heath Ledger died as the result of acute intoxication by the combined effects of oxycodone, hydrocodone, diazepam, temazepam, alprazolam and doxylamine," medical examiner's spokeswoman Ellen Borakove said in a news release.
The drugs are the generic names for the OxyContin painkiller, the anti-anxiety drug Valium, Xanax, an anti-anxiety drug, and the sleep aids Restoril and Unisom. Hydrocodone is a widely used prescription painkiller.
Borakove wouldn't say what concentrations of each drug were found in Ledger's blood, or whether one drug played a greater part than another in causing his death.
"What you're looking at here is the cumulative effects of these medications together is what caused his death," she said.
The ruling comes two weeks after the 28-year-old Australian-born actor was found dead in the bed of his rented SoHo apartment. Police found bottles of six types of prescription drugs, including sleeping pills and anti-anxiety medication, in his bedroom and bathroom, raising speculation of an accidental drug overdose.
Ledger was discovered by his masseuse Jan. 22,after she arrived for an appointment that afternoon. She entered his bedroom to set up for the massage, found him unresponsive and proceeded to call actress Mary-Kate Olsen three times over the next nine minutes before dialling 911. Ledger had been dead for some time and police say no foul play occurred.
Ledger, nominated for an Oscar for his role in "Brokeback Mountain," had returned to New York from London days before his death, where he had been filming a US$30 million Terry Gilliam film. He said in a November interview that his most recent completed roles in the Batman movie "The Dark Night" and Bob Dylan biopic "I'm Not There" had taken a toll and he couldn't sleep.
"Last week I probably slept an average of two hours a night," Ledger told The New York Times. "I couldn't stop thinking. My body was exhausted and my mind was still going." He said he had taken two Ambien pills, which only gave him an hour of sleep.
Ledger's family returned to the actor's hometown of Perth, Australia, Tuesday to prepare for his funeral. Arrangements were private.
In a statement released through Ledger's publicist, Ledger's father, Kim, said Wednesday: "While no medications were taken in excess, we learned today the combination of doctor-prescribed drugs proved lethal for our boy. Heath's accidental death serves as a caution to the hidden dangers of combining prescription medication, even at low dosage."
