Heath Ledger’s Sisters Deny His Joker Obsession Lead To Fatal Overdose

To a whole slew of us, the death of Australian screen royalty Heath Ledger and his turn in The Dark Knight will always be linked: the actor’s 2009 drug overdose occurred just after he committed his demented take on The Joker to film.

It’s long been theorised by armchair psychologists that delving into the ultimate Batman villain’s psychotic character played a role in Ledger’s own mental state, but at the premiere of documentary I Am Heath Ledger, his own family said that’s not the case at all.

Ledger’s sisters Kate Ledger and Ashleigh Bell were on deck at the Tribeca Film Festival for the flick’s first showing, and sat down for a panel with directors Derik Murray and Adrian Buitenhuis.

After discussing their brother’s admittedly obsessive nature, the pair said claims the Christopher Nolan flick played a notable role in his death simply aren’t based in reality. Bell said “everything that came into light about The Joker, we were all so confused.”

Ledger agreed, saying “I was really shocked, because that was him having fun.

“It was coming out that he was depressed and it was taking a toll, and we were going, ‘What?’”

In regards to the heavy nature of the role, Ledger added “he had an amazing sense of humor, and I guess only his close family and friends really knew that.

“But he was having fun. He wasn’t depressed about The Joker.”

Expect to learn a bit more about the bloke’s intense work ethic and personal struggles with I Am Heath Ledger hits US network Spike in May.

 

  
Source: The Daily Beast. 
Photo: The Dark Knight / Warner Bros. Pictures.