What is Heath Ledger’s “Last" Role?

by Brian Eggert
08/08/2008

Scouring eBay out of boredom, I found myself shocked by their action figure section where Joker figures with Heath Ledger's likeness were selling for upwards of $50. About a week or so later, while scouring the shelves of Target, I found toys for The Dark Knight, including the very figure eBayers were selling. Should I purchase the $8 figure for a $42 or more profit? Nah, I though, why capitalize on someone's death? If only others were so considerate...

Ledger’s accolades for his scary-as-hell performance in The Dark Knight have no doubt sustained the film’s continued record-breaking financial successes (though I suspect audiences would have clamored for another Christopher Nolan-directed, Christian Bale-starring Batman movie even without the late actor’s presence). Remember when excitement over the sequel to Batman Begins was just about the movie, not the man? I bear no grudge against the departed, mind you, rather just resent that some people see the movie merely as a conveyance for Ledger’s (brilliant) acting. From another point of view, it’s wonderful his work is being lauded so.

But if you’ve listened to the radio, read newspapers, paged through magazines, endured gossip columns, zoned-out to entertainment news, or visited the internet lately, then you know the Joker is not Ledger’s “last performance,” even if the occasional shoddy media source reports otherwise. I’ve made note numerous times on this site that Ledger’s last role will be in director Terry Gilliam’s The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus, due sometime in 2009. And yet, certain media outlets (including the New York Post, Yahoo! News, and others) are seemingly unable to click over to imdb.com and see that Ledger’s career has one more song before closing time.

Gilliam, the visionary behind such masterful films as Brazil, Time Bandits, and 12 Monkeys, has spoken out against Warner Bros' apparent buzz machine, claiming the studio has marketed The Dark Knight as Ledger’s last film role. “They’ll do anything to publicize their film,” Gilliam argues. “That’s just what they do and you can’t get upset because it’s bullshit. They’re like a great white shark which devours whatever it can.”

This is a particularly disheartening situation for Gilliam, whose films are wrought with problems including creative control-seeking studio executives, flaky financiers, illness, nightmarish weather, and now the death of his leading man. The documentary Lost in La Mancha details the director’s most pronounced failure, where after a series of uncontrollable events, his production of The Man Who Killed Don Quixote, starring Johnny Depp, was completely shut down after two disastrous weeks. Because of his record, throughout Tinsel Town Gilliam bears the reputation of a bad-luck director with a proclivity to create chaotic productions, on which he seems to thrive.

Given the director’s history, his dramatic words over Hollywood’s behind-the-scenes hullaballoo are no surprise. The Dark Knight now holds a number of box office records, surely due in part to audiences anticipating Ledger’s amazing performance, making it hard not to see Gilliam’s point as proven. And though Warner Bros. hasn’t directly marketed their picture as “Heath Ledger’s last performance” on posters or in trailers, they’ve orchestrated a promotional campaign wherein that idea is purveyed by third party media outlets but not corrected by the studio. In a roundabout way, Gilliam is right; not correcting a false statement sends the same message as propagating an erroneous one. Nevertheless, we’ll have to keep an eye on Dr. Parnassus’ marketing strategy, in hopes that it doesn’t sink to any of the abysmal lows damned by Gilliam—no one, not even Gilliam, should capitalize on Ledger’s death with the “final performance” angle.  

Even with Ledger’s tragic death this year of an accidental prescription drug overdose, Gilliam remains on his feet. The filming of The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus continued, despite the loss of its central star. Due to the unique nature of the plot, Ledger’s role allows for some non-linear interpretation to fill the gaps. The story involves Ledger’s character falling into a magic mirror wherein he explores the various parts of his psyche. In a stroke of casting genius, Gilliam has been filming with Johnny Depp, Colin Farrell, and Jude Law, each representing one psychological division of Ledger's character. Gilliam's solution, which since its announcement has become widespread knowledge, was available shortly after Ledger’s passing...

Regardless, in a New York Post article entitled “Heath’s Last Role” from July 14th, columnist Sara Stewart writes of Ledger’s early praise for his “final role.” Her article is a puff piece that treats The Dark Knight as the last opportunity to see Ledger’s work. Steward does mention Dr. Parnassus in passing, but claims “it's not known yet what Gilliam will do with the footage.” Actually, Ms. Stewart, it is known, and if you would’ve taken five minutes to enter a search for “heath ledger AND terry gilliam” on the web, you would have learned Gilliam’s intentions. It’s called fact checking. Try it.

I’m glad audiences and critics alike are enthusiastic about Ledger’s representation of the Joker. It truly is one of the great cinematic portrayals. My frustration arises when Terry Gilliam and The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus are altogether forgotten whenever Ledger’s name and the tragedy of his death pop up in regard to his career, which, even though his life may be ended, is not over yet. Claiming The Dark Knight houses Ledger’s final performance dismisses the fact that his true final performance is still coming—and forgoes another chance to be astonished by the actor’s incredible range and intensity.