Today would have been Heath Ledger’s 38th birthday but sadly the talented actor passed away nearly 10 years ago in 2008 at the young age of 28. While his screen credits only include 23 appearances in movies and television, Heath Ledger had a tremendous impact on Hollywood. And at 28, it felt like his career was just getting started. After his role as The Joker in The Dark Knight Ledger solidified himself as one of Hollywood’s elite and everyone including myself wonder just how many more amazing roles Ledger would have taken on if he were still alive today.
While Ledger’s career is mainly defined by his Joker role, it all began with 10 Things I Hate About You. He always had a charm about him. His acting matched his looks and it was almost as if you didn’t pay attention to how good of an actor he was. I think that’s what made him SO good. You were truly reeled in by whoever he was playing. Personally I thought his role in Monster’s Ball was phenomenal (even though he wasn’t in the film long) and that started his upward trajectory.
But it really wasn’t until Brokeback Mountain that we saw an Oscar worthy Ledger. The Joker was really just the icing on the cake and I deeply miss Ledger on the silver screen. It’s somewhat personal to me given he and I would be the same age today and to know a “peer” of mine was so talented makes me feel pretty good about my own interests. I don’t know. Tough to really articulate.
But in honor of his birthday, here’s one of the better video tributes I’ve found of Ledger’s movie career.
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