SciFi Files #3

c/o SciFi.com

12:00 AM, 10-OCTOBER-06

Nolan: Ledger Is Perfect Joker

Christopher Nolan, director of the the upcoming Batman sequel The Dark Knight, told SCI FI Wire that Heath Ledger will make a perfect Joker, though he might not seem so at first blush. "He's just exactly the kind of energy I needed for the character," Nolan (The Prestige) said in an interview about the Australian Brokeback Mountain star. "Everything about the risks that that performer is willing to take are the things I need for somebody to take on that iconic figure. It's going to be a huge challenge for us to create it, and he's exactly the guy you want to be in the trenches with."

Nolan added that he's been so busy putting the final touches on his upcoming supernatural film The Prestige that he hasn't had time to focus on other new casting for the Batman Begins sequel. Ledger will play the Joker opposite Batman Begins returnees Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne/Batman, Michael Caine as Alfred, Morgan Freeman as Lucius Fox and Gary Oldman as Lt. James Gordon.

As anyone who saw Batman Begins knows, that film's final moments included a sequence between Batman and Lt. Gordon in which they react to the discovery at a crime scene of a playing card bearing the face of a Joker. The Dark Knight will no doubt pick up right after the discovery of that card. "To be frank, I hadn't really thought about doing the sequel while we were doing the first one, but we wanted to end the first one with a sense of possibility," Nolan said. "And, frankly, the dynamic of that scene and the sense of possibility that we tried to leave the audience with at the end of Batman Begins just stuck with me. And I felt it as much as I hope the audience did. So we really just want to carry on that story and see where it goes." The Dark Knight will be released in 2008. —Ian Spelling

1. These are Keith Ledgers last 13 films according to IMdb

1. The Dark Knight (2008) (announced) .... The Joker
2. I'm Not There (2007) (filming) .... Bob Dylan
3. Candy (2006) .... Dan
4. Casanova (2005) .... Casanova
   ... aka Femur (Philippines: English title)
5. Brokeback Mountain (2005) .... Ennis Del Mar
6. The Brothers Grimm (2005) .... Jacob Grimm
7. Lords of Dogtown (2005) .... Skip
   ... aka American Knights (Philippines: English title)
   ... aka Dogtown Boys (Germany)
8. The Order (2003) .... Alex Bernier
   ... aka The Sin Eater (Australia) (Singapore: English title) (UK)
   ... aka Sin Eater - Die Seele des Bösen (Germany)
9. Ned Kelly (2003) .... Ned Kelly
   ... aka Ned Kelly: Public Enemy No. 1 (Philippines: English title: poster title)
10. The Four Feathers (2002) .... Harry Faversham
11. Monster's Ball (2001) .... Sonny Grotowski
    ... aka Bal du monstre, Le (Canada: French title)
12. A Knight's Tale (2001) .... Sir William Thatcher/Sir Ulrich von Lichtenstein of Gelderland
13. The Patriot (2000) .... Gabriel Martin
    ... aka Patriot, Der (Germany)

From "Brokeback Mountain"

 

From "A Knights Tale"

From "Lords Of Dogtown"