EW's New 'The Dark Knight' Cover and Story
Here we have the new cover for the July 15th issue of Entertainment Weekly and they have already released the story that goes along with this this awesome looking cover. The story pretty much revolves around Heath Ledger and his performance as The Joker. From what I have seen from the trailers and clips his performance looks amazing. This is a great article that you definitely need to take the time to read! There are a few things from the EW article I just had to share with you all. Here are the thoughts from the cast and crew regarding Heath Ledger and his performance.
Director Christopher Nolan calls Ledger's acting in the film ''fearless.''
Christian Bale, the Caped Crusader himself, says it's ''intense - a superb performance.''
Morgan Freeman, who plays inventor Lucius Fox... ''extraordinary.''
''The guy had serious nuts,'' Nolan says. ''What I needed was someone who wouldn't be afraid of the comparison with Jack Nicholson. And then I saw Heath's incredible performance in Brokeback Mountain. Such a lack of vanity. This was an actor who wasn't afraid to bury himself in his character - to a massive extent.''
''He tried to articulate to me what he was doing with his voice, but it was sometimes hard to understand,'' Nolan confesses. ''He talked about ventriloquist dummies, the way their mouths moved, the way their voices wouldn't appear to come out of them. He said he wanted the voice to have a mocking quality, a sort of disconnectedness.'' Ledger also gave plenty of thought to the makeup that would be splattered across his face throughout the film. ''He started applying the makeup himself - just to see what it would look like if he put it on with his own hands,'' Nolan says. ''We talked about how streaking the paint could get across the idea of corruption, of decay.''
''It was the scene after we capture the Joker and he's in a holding pen, sitting with his back against the bars,'' Oldman says. ''And Heath is sort of looking at me, kind of under his brow, and then he just starts clapping. I remember going over to him between takes and saying, 'You know, you remind me of Alex from A Clockwork Orange.' And Heath said, 'Yeah, yeah, yeah. Funnily enough, I was just watching that movie in my trailer.'''
''Heath got the same kick out of acting that I do,'' Bale says. ''He enjoyed the sort of crazy immersion of acting. He took it incredibly seriously but simultaneously recognized how ridiculous it all is.'' Oldman got a similar impression. ''I know there are these rumors out there that playing the Joker drove him to his grave,'' he says. ''But I never saw anything of that. He was always on time. He knew his part backwards and forwards. I just thought he was a really sweet kid.''
Look at where Heath drew his inspiration from! Those freaky ass evil ventriloquist dummies, and that crazy good evil movie 'A Clockwork Orange'! It makes sense, because I can really see those things in his performance that have been released.
Then there is this cool little insight that Michael Cain gives on the background of his character Alfred!
''I always make up my own backstories for my characters,'' says Michael Caine. ''Nobody cares but me, but I do it anyway. And my backstory for Alfred was that he was with the Special Infantry Service - sort of like the Navy SEALs - during World War II. But he got injured. So in order to stay in the service, he took a job in the officers' mess as a barman. And that's where [Bruce Wayne's dad] found him. That's why the accent I use for Alfred is that of an army sergeant. You see, you're not dealing with an ordinary butler here...''
He thinks nobody cares!? I love that backstory! Who wouldn't want to know that little nugget of information? That is great!
This was just a taste of what the EW article talks about. But from what everyone is saying it looks like Heath Ledgers performance is going to be his best ever. There is already a lot of Oscar buzz about it. I can't wait to see this movie! I have already got my tickets and I am ready to go!
-Dr. Venkaman