Ryan j Budke

Heath Ledger passed away some time either today or last night. There are still a lot of details coming in, so there’s all kind of discrepancies (anyone from his pharmacist, Mary Kate or Scientology could have led to his death at this point). I wouldn’t go so far as to say he was one of my “favorite actors”, but he was certainly someone I always liked to perform. He was phenomenal in Brokeback Mountain, Lords of Dogtown is worth skipping through for his parts only, and I’ve always had a soft spot for 10 Things I Hate About You (mostly because it led to a hilarious conversation between some of my best friends and an ex of mine with the punchline being “You’d make a horrible lesbian”).

Heath Ledger is also playing the part of the Joker in this summer’s Batman Begins sequel, and he’s been getting tons and tons of early buzz about this role. It’s unlike anything we’ve ever seen before… The best Joker ever… etc. It’s going to be extremely disappointing to have to watch that in retrospect. My thoughts and prayers go out to Heath’s family and friends.