A Farewell to Heath
January 25th, 2008 | by Gautam |
“I don’t know what I’m doing tomorrow. I don’t have a day planner and I don’t have a diary. I completely live in the now, not in the past, not in the future.” -Heath Ledger in 2002
It is with great sadness and shock that I write this post today in memory of one of my favorite actors. It was on Wednesday January 23rd, 2008 when I was at the Hyderabad GPO that I received a text message from one of my friends that read: “Heath Ledger is dead”. My first reaction to it was of some sort of a joke or a metaphor to his last acting role as the Joker in the much anticipated upcoming film- The Dark Knight. It took me sometime to actually think about the possibility of that actually happening.
“But Heath is what? 27-28 years old?? It can’t be!” I tired denial.
A few minutes later I got a call from the same friend confirming the seriousness of this devastating news. I could not believe it! I simply refuse to! It’s just not fair, he has so much more to offer! But then again I remembered River Phoenix (1970-1993) and I knew this was one event that will be put up that very same lane.
My first introduction to Heath is through the film The Patriot (2000). I thought he was very powerful in his portrayal of Mel Gibson’s son. He had some sort of aura around him that confirmed the fact that even when he did roles that were well below his full capacities, you knew somehow that he will eventually unfurl into a great actor. Of course, he was still a twenty-something, who knew where he’d have gone and what he’d have become? Broadway? Now I guess we’ll never know.
Being an admirer of his work I can tell you that he had a way of disappearing into his roles unlike most big name celebrities. If Tom Cruise played a gay cowboy, for the world it would be Tom Cruise playing a gay cowboy but when Heath Ledger played a gay cowboy there is no sign of Heath Ledger. Perhaps the only other actor well know for this sort of camouflage is Daniel Day-Lewis. This is the same reason why a lot of people identified with the roles he played whether it is Patrick Verona in 10 Things I Hate About You (1999) or Ennis Del Mar in Brokeback Mountain (2005). It is with this same identification that I refer to him by his first name rather than his full name in-spite of the fact that I never met him.
My deepest condolences go out to his parents, his sister and all his fans and most importantly my heart goes out to his 2-year old daughter Matilda Rose. Even though his departure left a huge hole in the long and winding and sometimes questionably harsh world of cinema and the millions who indulge in this artform, I’m sure his work will never be forgotten.
