MagaCINE

Ao lado do amigo e parceiro em Brokeback Mountain, Jake Gyllenhaal (padrinho da sua filha), no palco dos Óscares em 2006. Ver galeria da Yahoo.

Heathcliff Andrew Ledger, australiano, tinha 28 anos e uma filha, Matilda, com dois anos, que nasceu da sua relação com a actriz Michelle Williams, de quem se separou em 2007. Especula-se muito nas causas da morte, mas a mais provável é mesmo ter tido uma má reacção a medicamentos para dormir. Ao contrário do que os media portugueses dizem, não se trata de droga mas medicamentos para dormir, já que Ledger andava há alguns meses com problemas nesse domínio pela carga de filmes intensos e emotivos que rodou. O que interessa? Certo é que não fará mais filmes. O que é de lamentar até porque era dos actores da nova geração mais brilhantes e com gestão de carreira mais entusiasmante.

Comecei a ver Heath Ledger com o filme 10 Things I Hate About You (1999), em que aparece ao lado de Julia Stiles, como um jovem rebelde num remake de um clássico de Shakespear. A série australiana de época, Roar, conheci na SIC Radical, não há muito tempo. Aparece depois no intenso The Patriot (2000) como filho mais velho de Mel Gibson e protagoniza de seguida A Knight's Tale (2001), em que é um cavaleiro em busca de honra. Um filme que mostrou as suas capacidades como actor carismático e de futuro.

O papel de filho perturbado e suicida de uma família de homens racistas e guardas prisionais no oscarizado Monster's Ball (2001) mostrou a sua fibra como actor dramático, num papel intenso e emotivo. Em The Four Feathers (2002) é um oficial britânico com consciência e princípios, e disposto a lutar por eles mesmo que seja chamado de cobarde, mais um bom papel num belo filme. Não vi o western Ned Kelly (2003) mas tem um bom elenco e comprova as boas escolhas de filmes e papéis de Ledger, ao contrário do que aconteceu com a escolha do filme de terror The Order (2003). Em Lords of Dogtown (2005), outro que não vi, não é protagonista. Faz de skater cujo grupo é perturbado pela fama.

Para mim, um dos filmes de 2005 foi The Brothers Grimm (2005), de Terry Gilliam, em que Ledger divide o protagonismo com o "irmão" Matt Damon. Um excelente filme e dois belos papéis. Aqui o actor australiano volta a esconder o sotaque e faz de irmão tímido e académico (Jacob Grimm) do outro Grimm mais expansivo. Mostrou outra faceta como actor e versatilidade. No conhecido Brokeback Mountain (2005), que lhe valeu a nomeação para o Óscar de Melhor Actor tem um papel duro e do tamanho do mundo como Ennis Del Mar. Merecia ganhar aquele senhor de careca (e não só) dourada, não porque morreu agora, mas porque foi um grande desempenho, daqueles em que não são as palavras que comovem, são os momentos de silêncio, as expressões e gestos.

Seguem-se dois filmes bem distintos e que valem a pena: Casanova (2005), em que é o conquistador das mulheres venezianas do século XIX, e Candy (2006), em que tem uma relação intensa e alimentada a heróina com uma estudante, uma história dura de auto-destruição.

Agora ia aparecer em I'm Not There. (2007), o filme sobre os vários momentos da vida de Bob Dylan e em The Dark Knight, o novo Batman em que faz de Joker, papel que tinha sido de Jack Nicholson e cujo filme está em pós-produção. Estava a filmar uma fantasia de Terry Gilliam, com quem voltava a trabalhar depois dos The Brothers Grimm, em The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, sobre uma companhia de teatro ambulante que dá ao público muito mais do que eles esperariam.

O poster de promoção da personagem Joker, do novo Batman.

--

A crítico da Rolling Stone Peter Travers que chegou a entrevistar Ledger fala nele como um outsider a Hollywood, que queria manter-se assim e era rebelde nas opções de filmes que tinha. Não era conhecido por criar problemas, bem pelo contrário, mas sim pela calma e tranquilidade (era muito tímido e metido consigo mesmo) com que vivia a vida e sempre muito dedicado à sua profissão. Tentou sempre combater a imagem inicial de menino bonito com papéis diversificados e arriscados e consegui-o.

Em Novembro, ao lado de Richard Gere.

Hoje, após o final trágico.

Actor Heath Ledger Found Dead
Actor Heath Ledger was found dead at a Manhattan apartment Tuesday afternoon in what appeared to be a possible drug-related death; he was 28. The actor was discovered in one of the SoHo apartment's bedrooms at 3:31 p.m., when a masseuse arrived for a scheduled appointment and the residence's housekeeper went to inform the actor of the masseuse's arrival. He was found unconscious and unresponsive; the New York Times at first stated that the apartment in question belonged to actress Mary-Kate Olsen, but a publicist for the actress later said that Olsen did not own a unit in the building in which Ledger was found. An initial police report also cited by the New York Times said that foul play was not suspected and that pills had been found near Ledger's body. A native of Australia, Ledger shot to fame as a teen heartthrob in 10 Things I Hate About You before graduating to more adult roles, most notably his Oscar-nominated turn in Brokeback Mountain. Engaged at one time to Brokeback co-star Michelle Williams, the two had a daughter but had split in recent months. Earlier this year, Ledger wrapped filming on the Batman film The Dark Knight, in which he played The Joker; the film is currently set for release this summer. Further details of the actor's death were not available at press time. --- IMDB

Ver fotos na Variety e na BBC

Heath Ledger dead at 28
Heath Ledger, who was found dead Tuesday in his Gotham apartment, had two outstanding projects: He plays the Joker in Warners' upcoming Batman pic, "The Dark Knight," and has a key role in "The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus," a Terry Gilliam pic that has been shooting in London. Principal photography on "The Dark Knight" finished in the fall; as of Tuesday, the pic is still skedded for a July 18 bow.
(...) A Focus rep said the specialty label, which had close ties to the thesp from his role in "Brokeback Mountain," was in shock over the news, and CEO James Schamus, who co-wrote the pic with Ang Lee, issued a statement lamenting the loss. "Heath Ledger was a courageous actor, and a great soul," Schamus said. "He gave us the gift of sharing his fearless and beautiful love - of his craft, and of all who worked with him - for which all of us will be eternally grateful."
(...) The "Dark Knight" rollout will present more than a few challenges en route to opening weekend. One poster shows the Joker the character drawing a clown's smile on a mirror with red lipstick and scrawling the words, "Why So Serious?" Tagline was also used to launch a Joker-centric website that the studio used to bow new photos from the pic and a viral scavenger hunt, among other games.
"The Joker character is dealing with chaos and life and death and a lot of dark themes," one insider with knowledge of the campaign said. "Everyone is going to interpret every line out of his mouth in a different way now." (...) He was set to appear in Baz Luhrmann's "Australia" before dropping out to star in "The Dark Knight." --- Variety

Heath Ledger found dead in NYC
NEW YORK - Heath Ledger, the talented 28-year-old actor who gravitated toward dark, brooding roles that defied his leading-man looks, was found dead Tuesday in a Manhattan apartment, facedown at the foot of his bed with prescription sleeping pills nearby, police said. There was no obvious indication that the Australian-born Ledger had committed suicide, NYPD spokesman Paul Browne said.Ledger had an appointment for a massage at the SoHo apartment that is believed to be the home of the "Brokeback Mountain" actor, Browne said. The massage therapist and a housekeeper found his naked body at about 3:30 p.m. They tried to revive him, but he was already dead. (...)
"I had such great hope for him," said Mel Gibson [compatriota australiano], who played Ledger's vengeful father in "The Patriot," in a statement. "He was just taking off and to lose his life at such a young age is a tragic loss."
In the Australian city of Perth, where Ledger was born and raised, his father called the actor's death "tragic, untimely and accidental." "He was (a) down-to-earth, generous, kind-hearted, life-loving, unselfish individual, extremely inspirational to many," Kim Ledger said, reading from a prepared statement. "Heath has touched so many people on so many different levels during his short life."
(...)
Curiosity about Ledger's final performance will likely stoke further interest in the summer blockbuster. "Dark Knight" director Christopher Nolan said this month that Ledger's Joker would be wildly different from Nicholson's.
"It was a very great challenge for Heath," Nolan said. "He's extremely original, extremely frightening, tremendously edgy. A very young character, a very anarchic presence that taps into a lot of our basic fears and panic." Ledger told The New York Times in a November interview that he "stressed out a little too much" during the Dylan film and had trouble sleeping while portraying the Joker, whom he called a "psychopathic, mass-murdering, schizophrenic clown with zero empathy."
"Last week I probably slept an average of two hours a night," Ledger told the newspaper. "I couldn't stop thinking. My body was exhausted, and my mind was still going." He said he took two Ambien pills, which worked for only an hour, the paper said.
Ledger was a widely recognized figure in his Manhattan neighborhood, where he used to shop at a home and children's store. Michelle Vella, an employee there, said she had frequently seen Ledger with his daughter — carrying the toddler on his shoulders, or having ice cream with her.
"It's so sad. They were really close," Vella said. "He's a very down-to-earth guy and an amazing father."
Before settling down with Williams, Ledger had relationships with actresses Heather Graham and Naomi Watts. He met Watts while working on "The Lords of Dogtown," a fictionalized version of a cult classic skateboarding documentary, in 2004.
Ledger was born in 1979 to a mining engineer and a French teacher and got his first acting role playing Peter Pan at age 10 in a local theater company. He began acting in independent films as a 16-year-old in Sydney and played a cyclist hoping to land a spot on an Olympic team in a 1996 television show, "Seat."
After several independent films, Ledger moved to Los Angeles at age 19 and starred opposite Julia Stiles in "10 Things I Hate About You." Offers for other teen flicks soon came his way, but Ledger turned them down, preferring to remain idle than sign on for projects he didn't like. "It wasn't a hard decision for me," Ledger told the Associated Press in 2001. "It was hard for everyone else around me to understand. Agents were like, `You're crazy,' my parents were like, 'Come on, you have to eat.'" --- AP

Australians mourn actor Heath Ledger
(...) Actress Nicole Kidman, a fellow Australian, called Ledger's death a "terrible tragedy."
"My heart goes out to Heath's family," she said through her Australia-based publicist, Wendy Day.
It was a shocking end for one of Hollywood's bright young stars. (...)
Neil Armfield, who directed Ledger in his last Australian film, "Candy," said the actor had "handled his career incredibly well," steering himself toward more challenging roles.
"He made a decision about four years ago to stop being led by producers and managers and to forge his own way," Armfield told Australian Broadcasting Corp. radio "He started working with the most interesting directors. He was so successful at breaking out of the teen idol image."




Heath Ledger is found dead in US
Hollywood actor Heath Ledger has been found dead at a downtown Manhattan residence, a New York Police Department spokesman has said.
"He was found unconscious at the apartment and pronounced dead," a police spokeswoman said.
It is not yet clear how the 28-year-old Australian actor, who earned an Oscar nomination as a gay cowboy in 2005 film Brokeback Mountain, died.
He was found dead in the SoHo apartment at around 1530 (2030 GMT). Police said he had been due to have a massage at the flat. The housekeeper went to tell him the masseuse had arrived and found him dead on Tuesday afternoon, police spokesman Paul Browne told Associated Press news agency.
Police said they did not suspect foul play in the death of the Perth-born actor.
In September he split from his girlfriend Michelle Williams, with whom he has a two-year-old daughter, Matilda. He plays the Joker in the soon-to-be-released Batman film, The Dark Knight. --- BBC