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Heath Ledger
Joe Flaherty voice: Dead!
In all seriousness, though, this is pretty sad and sudden. Ledger's
performance in Brokeback Mountain is one for the ages. Not being an
actor myself, one of the biggest joys I get from movies is watching
actors act. I've always said that I think acting is a magic thing, and
one of the reasons I love Inside the Actors Studio so much is that, as
sycophantic as it is, it gives schlubs like me a look behind the
curtain. I think that's why I became a writer, once I decided to get
serious about it, and a director later -- to play with actors. To watch
them make magic.
Anyway, Ledger in Brokeback does an amazing thing. Through very little
makeup, he ages from a young man to an old man over the course of the
film. This is seen in his last scene in the picture, where he's playing
late 50s, and his daughter comes to see him to tell him she's getting
married. Ledger's character, Ennis Del Mar, says he can't go because he
has work. Then he has this line I'll always remember, as he reconsiders
and tells her that his job can "probably find themselves another old
cowboy" to do his job for him. There's just so much conveyed in that
line, it knocked me on my ass. That was a guy in his twenties saying
that, and yet, I believed the character was a man much older than he
was.
And when reflecting about Ledger's death, and what film fans have lost,
I think of that scene. Which is why it's so sad -- the guy did that
when he was 25. What else could he have done?
Plus, he had a two year old daughter. Having lost a parent at an early age, that's the saddest thing in the world.
Damn. (Note: This is really just a test post to get this thing up and running. I'm not that kind of asshole, except, well, when I am that kind of asshole.)
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