NEWSGary Oldman: Heath Really Was a Joker
July 16 2008, Published 9:00 a.m. ET
Add Gary Oldman to the list of people who think Heath Ledger will earn an Oscar nomination for his transformative role as The Joker in The Dark Knight.
"I think he will get a posthumous Oscar nomination, and he could win it," the actor tells Parade.com. "It's as good a performance as anyone out there has turned in. He was brilliant."
While the late star completely immersed himself into the grisly role, don't think the method actor in him stayed in character when "cut" was called. In fact, Gary says, it was Christian Bale who was the resident dark brooder on set.
"Christian Bale is darker than Heath," he says. "I know that sounds kind of weird but Christian very much keeps to himself. He's sort of quietly intense. My experience with Heath was very different. Between takes, he very much wanted to laugh and kid around."
The 50-year-old admits stories of Heath as the set joker (no pun intended) is "not what people expect to hear," as many think the dark role as a cause for the Aussie's Jan. 22 death, but , Gary thinks conspiracy theorists are "probably looking for a darker story."
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He continues, "You know, like he was so contaminated by playing The Joker that he couldn't sleep and all that stuff. But I didn't see any of that."
