Heath Ledger: Eyes that Spoke Beyond the Act

I feel that I’m at a stage in my life now where life is just about to really speed up and flash by and so I feel like I am on old man river paddling on a little row boat.”
– Heath Ledger

My introduction to Heath Ledger began with a film where he truly broke the mould and cinematic barriers. I remember seeing a late night show of Brokeback Mountain and then sitting up till 4 a.m. compelled to write a review right away. I had not seen any pre-release interviews, or much of the promotional material, but after the film was released, I saw Heath Ledger echoing what I had written in my review-that this film is a moving love story and transcends all that comes in its way-it was too powerful a film, packed with outstanding performances by Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal piercing you too deeply not to have an impact. What captured my attention was his comment in answer to a question on how daring or brave was it to do this film? “I hate to call it “daring” or “brave”; firefighters are daring and brave. I’m acting. I didn’t get hurt and I’m not mentally wounded from this experience.” But Todd Haynes who directed Ledger in I’m Not There said in a tribute that was published in Interview Magazine-“That performance in Brokeback Mountain was such a sensitive, understated, controlled interpretation of this character. The entire emotional power of that film, which is enormous, resides in that performance, and how much Heath holds in. That restraint is what makes us yield emotionally and fill in all of the pieces ourselves. So he sort of unleashes the audience’s emotions by controlling his own.”

I couldn’t agree more. But for me it was while watching the much maligned Four Feathers (and I suggest all of you take a second look at this hauntingly beautiful film and Heath Ledger’s multi dimensional performance once again) when I realized that even at 21 Heath Ledger was already a phenomenal talent.

The film directed by Shekhar Kapur, director extraordinaire because of his seamless ability to blend his eastern sensibilities and wisdom with the western influences, making whatever he touches a beautiful story with a heart, is made even richer by the then Aussie youngster’s wisdom and instinctive understanding of what to bring to the role. I could not help contacting Shekhar a couple of days before we were going live and requesting an interview to share memories of Heath Ledger and the making of Four Feathers.

Four Feathers originally based on a 1902 fictional novel by A.E.W Mason and remade several times, is a story of four friends, a beautiful woman and the dashing Harry Faversham, who resigns just as his regiment is about to be shipped to Sudan to fight the Mahdis perceived as rebels by the British who are on the quest to expand their empire. Seen as an act of cowardice Harry is handed four white feathers symbolizing cowardice by friends and fiancée and disowned by his father. He decides to redeem himself and his journey from Britain to South Africa becomes not just a journey from cowardice to courage and redemption but also from youthful naiveté to deeper wisdom with some life-altering experiences.

The film is scattered with so many gems and presents such a multilayered performance by Ledger that I’m surprised this film didn’t garner an Oscar for him as well as the amazing Djimon Hounsou.

It has already been reported that Shekhar was the last person to speak with Heath the night before he died. They were to meet the next day and Heath had asked Shekhar to wake him up. He had returned from England and had been battling a terrible cold and insomnia and turned down Shekhar’s offer for having a massage at the Chopra center. In a strange coincidence, both Shekhar and Heath had set up a massage appointment for Heath at 3 pm.-Shekhar at the center and Heath at the apartment where he was staying and they talked about that strange connection that they have always had in some way or the other.

I asked Shekhar why he chose Heath over other British actors who would be considered established talents. He answered that it was because he was looking for someone very young, who could still capture the nuances of being youthful and unknowing and then becoming totally wise at the end of his experience. “I did a 7 and a half hour screen test with him and Heath always said that was his biggest acting lesson…it had to do with me doing a scene with him being in love in a way that is very young in which you are always asking and you take and being in love with wisdom and strength which is about giving and giving strength. I got him to do the scene twice in the same costume, same actress on the other side and same position and what I saw was a man whose eyes suddenly turned from youth to wisdom immediately and I knew that I was dealing here with a potentially great actor.”

The two men became close friends and connected beyond film making. “He used to call me his brother from another mother,” said Shekhar, “I think when I started work with Heath, I knew as often we do that there’s a connection in your spirit that goes beyond the first meeting. It is an ancient connection and I’m not surprised that he is no longer with us, because I think he had in this mythic way, this ancient soul that was very ready at the moment to be part of the Universe and of the consciousness and I think he just came back for one last time to this world and was restless to go back to consciousness. I used to constantly tell Heath that in such a young body was such a wise soul and that was really unusual and it’s not easy. It’s not easy for you too, because part of your soul is ancient and it has such understanding and yet your hormones are young, your body is young and so it wants to play as a young puppy. This is your dilemma. Your dilemma is that your soul is ancient and your body is young.”

I have always felt that if there was any truth to the adage that the eyes are the mirror of the soul, Heath Ledger was a living symbol of that. In fact I said to Shekhar that I was curious to see The Dark Knight not to compare how Heath’s Joker fared against the character made unforgettable by Jack Nicholson, but how would they make those soulful, kind eyes that spoke volumes and made his vulnerability so evident all the time-look evil.

To that Shekhar said, “Heath Ledger always revealed his soul. It’s not just the facility and honesty of an actor; it also has something to do with the honesty of being a human being. If you are an honest human being you are not afraid of revealing yourself. You are not shifty eyed. When I was filming with Heath, I would tell my DP all the time, whatever we do, make sure you can see Heath’s eyes because Heath’s eyes will give you an ocean of humanity far beyond the particularity of the scene that we are shooting.”

I started ordering all the Heath Ledger films I could lay my hands on a few months before his untimely death. I saw Monster’s Ball and was blown away by Heath’s compelling performance as Sonny Grotowski, a sensitive prison guard whose kindness is seen as a weakness by his father and who is ultimately driven to suicide. Heath’s role was a handful of scenes, but the sensitivity, compassion, torment and angst he is able to portray leaves a big impact and you somehow see the slow transformation of the father thereafter shadowed softly, somehow by the lingering ghost of his son.

The Order was another interesting story where Heath Ledger plays the role of Alex Bernier, a priest belonging to an arcane order the Carolingians. When the head of the Order dies, Alex is sent to Rome to investigate mysterious circumstances surrounding the death. The body bears certain marks that indicate that it could be the work of the sin eater. The sin eaters were renegades in the eyes of the Roman Catholic Church because they absolved and took on the sins of those that the Church had excommunicated. Their nobility became their curse and the film traces Alex’s journey from priesthood to becoming the Sin eater. Ledger said in an interview that in his eyes here was a character that had a goal but didn’t know how to articulate it, a man who was caught between priesthood and his love for a woman who eventually becomes the bridge between his giving up his priesthood and becoming the sin eater. “It’s a struggle of how much of the love is truth and how much it has been orchestrated from another source.’

Ned Kelly took him back to his native land Australia as he played the legendary outlaw, and Candy was another film back home, where he played a heroin addicted poet. He infused honesty in both roles and that can only be done by an actor who as Shekhar said was not hesitant to reveal his soul. It was interesting that Ledger caught something in Ned Kelly’s potrait that helped him present the outlaw so beautifully. He said in an interview that he responded to “the integrity, dignity and pride in his eyes, when his life had been torn out from underneath him…“I had to believe in him to portray him, so I do see him as a hero – and of course he was a criminal too, but he had to be to survive, that’s the point.”

Heath Ledger’s performance in the Patriot was the perfect foil to Mel Gibson who plays his father. They are similar in so many ways-stubborn, proud and honorable. The scenes between father and son are very telling, and they each develop a deeper love, understanding and admiration for each other. There are some very charming scenes between them and Heath Ledger had credited Mel Gibson for putting him at ease and for teaching him how to survive in Hollywood.

I had a lot of fun watching the unusual version of The Brothers Grimm and the utterly lovable Casanova and Ten Things I hate about you. Matt Damon and Heath Ledger evidently switched roles in The Brothers Grimm and brought a special warmth and chemistry to the film. Ledger who must be one of the most fidgety interviewees said in interviews that all that raw energy he possessed became perfect for his role and that he was a romantic and a dreamer like Jakob. “I am definitely a dreamer and a romantic. There was quite a lot of me in Jacob. When I met Terry in London , we sat and shared a drink at some hotel, and when I get nervous, my hands go everywhere (laugh). I lose control of them as I explain things with my hands. As my arms were flailing all around, he was going, “That’s great. Do it just like that.” He was giggling at my nervous energy. So for the first time instead of being asked to harness my energy, he wanted me to pop the lid off. I just let it fly.

Though Ledger said in an interview he had nothing in common with Casanova, the rakish charm he brought to the character made it immensely watchable and enjoyable. It was the same in Ten Things I hate about you, where he was utterly believable as the rebel youngster who finds love and is transformed. But of course it may have been fluff for an actor who was constantly finding ways to improve, to do one better and not to be typecast. Shekhar Kapur said that Heath “ was the world’s greatest thinker. He was constantly thinking, constantly evaluating himself.”

Heath Ledger was also immensely athletic and did a lot of the dare devil stunts himself, as any one who has seen A Knight’s Tale and Four Feathers can see. Shekhar Kapur recalls how insurance would not permit them and yet one of the most daring stunts in his film, where Heath Ledger was to fall off a horse in a battle scene and leave, he told Shekhar he was going to go ahead and do the rest of the stunt where he jumps on a running horse. “Both of us were pranksters and both of us were adventurous and both of us saw life as an adventure and therefore films as an adventure. Heath just ran and jumped on the horse and left everyone stunned and then we got the short end of the stick that evening from every body but both of us were giggling like little school boys at what we had pulled off.” In fact there were many daring battle scenes showing Heath’s amazing athleticism that were cut off much to Shekhar’s disappointment.

The Dark Knight is obviously a film everyone is waiting for. Heath Ledger talked about how he was not into comics and since he had two sisters the only comics that made their way into the house were Archie, but Chris Nolan’s treatment of Batman Begins caught his imagination and was the deciding factor in his decision to take on the role of the joker.

When asked how he prepared for the Dark Knight Ledger said in an interview, “I think we all have it in us. You know, I don’t know, once again, it’s kind of, you know like and then for a while there I was just thinking like you know, sometimes I’ll connect some scary thoughts. It’s kind of like eating raw meat. I don’t know what that does to your mouth and your eyes, and simple little visuals like that. That kind of twisted mind a little bit, and it feels evil when it’s not necessarily an evil thought, but it may look and come across as evil. And I don’t know, I guess the rest is just trusting like your research and trusting all the definitions of these words a psychopath.”

Shehkar Kapur says “Heath was highly incapable of doing any part without giving himself to the part so he must have found a darkness inside him and that to an extent must have brought him down a little bit. It’s a tough part, but Heath would never play a part by merely playing it. He would find that character some where inside himself and then exaggerate that character and that must’ve been very very exhausting for him to play, other than the makeup and then to follow Jack Nicholson, but also to “ be” the joker.”

The movie was complete at the time that Heath died on the 22nd of January 2008, but another Terry Gilliam film, The Imaginarium of Dr Parnussus was only half done. Johnny Depp, Colin Firth and Jude Law will be completing it in honor of Heath Ledger.

In all the media frenzy over his death, as yellow journalism sadly raised its ugly head, it was touching to see how many people from the Hollywood fraternity either adored Ledger or were in total awe of his talent. They stood up for him. This month Interview Magazine put a beautiful tribute seen through the eyes of those who loved him. Michelle Williams says he was incredibly talented in many different things.

There were talks of Heath being depressed after his split with Michelle Williams and even questions as to whether he had taken his own life. Shekhar Kapur says he had never seen Heath Ledger that depressed. “In fact when we were working on the film (Four Feathers) I used to feel very depressed and tired at times and Heath’s spirit actually kept me up. In fact he used to joke with me every morning-“So what happened-you didn’t resign from the film today? I’m much older than him and someone who’s an actor who is supposed to be under pressure actually was my emotional support. Heath was the greatest optimist. I never saw Heath as a person who would get depressed. He was very creative, he had started his own company, and very few people actually talk about his photography. He was a committed photographer. In New York he had started his own company to make music videos. He ‘d send me his music videos and his music videos were beautiful. He was looking forward to becoming a director-he was looking forward to too may things for a person to say I’m so depressed I’m tired of life. He was too involved creatively in the things he wanted to do, too energetic and optimistic and a man who brought smiles to every body. I knew people who would meet Heath Ledger once and fall in love with him immediately because of his sheer energy and spirit. He was certainly not depressed.”

Many people say that Heath Ledger was on the verge of becoming a great actor – I think he already was. Perhaps the only regret in a life well lived, in my eyes is that Heath Ledger won’t be able to play the role he loved best-of being a dad.

Ledger once said in an interview “When anything is blocking my head or there’s worry in my life, I just go sit on Mars or something and look back here at Earth. All you can see is this tiny speck. You don’t see the fear. You don’t see the pain. You don’t see thought. It’s just one solid speck. Then nothing really matters. It just doesn’t.” Maybe he is right up there watching over all those he loved and left, still shining as the biggest star in his own Universe.