Heath Ledger Almost Played MAD MAX in FURY ROAD

When the world lost Heath Ledger in 2008, we lost a tremendous actor who was just beginning to come into his own as a performer. His work as The Joker in The Dark Knight has become the ultimate big-screen version of the character, and there were dozens of characters that he hadn't yet portrayed that could have become just as iconic. As it turns out, one of those characters was Mad Max.

In an interview with The Daily Beast (via The Playlist), director George Miller revealed that he and Ledger had multiple conversations about Ledger taking on the mantle from fellow Aussie Mel Gibson:

“Every time Heath [Ledger] would come through Sidney, he’d call in and we’d chat about Max. He had that same thing that Mel and Tom Hardy have—that maleness, charisma, and restless energy, which you need to play a relatively still character. The world lost someone great when he went. Tom was the next to walk through the door that had that vibe.”

This casting makes total sense to me, and as with any time I think about Ledger's death, I'm saddened by all of the performances we won't get to see from the talented young actor. Tom Hardy stepped in and made Max his own, but what do you think Leger's Mad Max would have been like if he were still alive to play the character?