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hello all

So the other day someone was talking about the dark knight movie and mentioned that Heath Ledger died due to his character the joker. It was said that he could not distinguish between himself and the character and got too far into his role leading up to his death. Does anyone else besides me think thats a little fishy, or has anyone heard of this before?

Regardless what others may feel about this post- I am going to keep it here because honestly... we're The Dark Network now, and comics fall in the line of scifi.

I don't think this is true, however I spent a long time in a comic book store today talking with the owner about how Heath was known to immerse himself into his characters. It's not such a crazy idea that the already depressed man (failed relationship) got a little more disconnected to the world after playing this role. But you know- this movie was done and over when he died- he was filming something else, and becoming another character.

I believe the death was an accident. From what I remember, there was no OD... it was more of the wrong mix of meds. And the meds I used to combine, and no longer do after this happened.

It was an accidental OD...he wasn't sleeping well because of the continous night shoots on The Dark Knight...he would sleep maybe an hour or two and wake up wired...he would take something to sleep and only sleep two hours...until he mixed sleeping meds.They built up in his system and it killed him...he didn't do it on purpose nor did he try to commit suicide like some claimed righ after his death.Yes he did always delve into his characters more them most actors...and yes the movie had an affect on him...but not like many of the bogus reports.As much as he loved his daughter...he wouldn't kill himself on purpose and leave her without a father...even though that did end up happening.

thats what i thought too. i didnt think he went crazy or anything and a lot of ppl say its suicide, but it was clearly stated that it was teh wrong combo of meds.

ps: i didnt know we werent suppossed to post things like this on here sorry :-/

The autopsy proved it was the combined effects of medications, and not an over dose. An over dose implies you take more than you need of a medicine... this wasn't the case, it was the wrong meds taken together.

He was filming 'The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus' when he died, The Dark Knight was complete and he was in a different acting 'zone' then.

I heard that too. That it was the darkest character he ever played..and was having probs or something soo he was takin medication.

And the medication he was takin supposedly makes u do stuff that u dun realize you are doing, and he took more pills, not knowing what he was doing, and overdosed.

That's what I heard.

-Juggalette givin MMFWCL

I have heard that but to be honest with you, no one knows what was going through his head. That may or may not have been what was going on, I just dont see it. Why that role? He could have gotten wrapped up in any role that he had played, so why pick that one out? Because the press can put the two together thats the only reason why.

I do not think heath ledgers portrayal of the joker had anything to do with his death. all his death was was a tragic accident.

I agree, it was a tragic accident.

And for those going on what they 'hear'. You can google the actual autopsy report- it was not an over dose, but the combination of prescribed drugs that just so happened to be a deadly mix. It was, an accident.

I was an actor for quite sometime and I can say that some roles just suck you in. It can be very hard to break out of the role and enter the real world back and forth.

There are many stories about actors being made mad over a role. And if the actor has outstanding physiological problems mixed with high intellect it can compound the situation.

I do agree the role had a part to play in his most untimely death.

Speculation somewhat is what is wrong with the world these days, taking the media or newspapers far too seriously always ends up putting things in a differant context then what the actual stories were.

Media is there to conflict nature, to make things seem more dramatic then what they are. To keep the audience informed. But, notice how most of the mass media is dependant on the negative aspects of social drama's.

This being said, until I see the actual Autopsy report then I will not take things for granted as to what I see/hear on the internet, within forums, in the newspaper, or on the telly.

Now, as far as Mr. Ledger is concerned, it was a mix of meds, not an OD. Media broadcasting was at fault for issuing the story with the wrong information at the right time. It was speculation from the media's witness's to Mr. Ledgers death about the apparent suicide. NOTHING WAS CONFIRMED until after the fact a few days to a week later about the truth of his (Mr. Ledger's) demise.

The point I am wishing to make here is that society should really quit taking things for granted and actually get the whole story before believing little facts whether they are true or false. Mr. Ledger has passed, let him die in piece.

So maybe it was playing that role that drove him to need the proscription drugs in the first place. Pain killers, anti anxiety and sleeping tables all adds up to someone going though something!

He would not be the first actor or actres who die right after making a dark movie

I've heard that in each movie of Poltergeist there was one who died.

So I think all actors a simple human who at times get to much drained out and make mistake just like we do, sadly theirs are fatal.

Thankyou ~Chordewa~ for posting the link...Now hopefully the audience may quite blaming his untimely demise on playing the role of a "dark" character.

It was not his fault he made the wrong mixer. Who knows, maybe he was thinking about the days events and was halfway paying attention to what he was doing at the time of the mixing. *Shrugs*...Happens to the best of us, unfortunately he (Mr. Ledger) had a bit more than bad luck that time around.

He is not the only actor to get immersed in their roles. I have heard of others in the past that were like that too. He was just in a newer set of actors. When one is in the limelight the media is there to make money. They want you to buy their magazines, listen to the news and read the newspapers so sensationalism is their way of getting it. It was all speculation in the beginning anyway and then I read he mixed his meds. These days it could happen to anyone. You should see the meds my father is taking and three of them are for high blood pressure and they are not really suppose to go together when you read up on the meds but when a doctor says take it they do. He may have been prescribed things that didn't go together and he didn't know. This happens all the time. I have read a number of articles on the topic of prescriptions by doctors. Unfortunately I didn't know him...but as an actor I will miss him up on the big screen. He was a wonderful actor.

"While no medications were taken in excess, we learned today the combination of doctor-prescribed drugs proved lethal for our boy." ...So says the article.

And this is what I mean by no 'over dose' in the conventional sense of taking too much of a medicine. This was an issue of the combination, not the dosage.

Thankyou ~Images~ for clarifying this to our audience. Well worth the discussion as well as possible solution to said discussion at hand.

Reading the list of medications on that report, it's no wonder something like this happened. I agree with Images; this wasn't an overdose in the usual sense.

I can't help wondering if, should it be proven that he didn't obtain these drugs illegally (they are all standard-issue prescription drugs), would the doctors who prescribed them be held accountable for his death?

Hmm, good question...Unless there is a drug release form that all doctors are obligated to sign before any type of medication is submitted to any clientel then the doc's themselves are off the hook...Specifically if it actually was an over the counter prescription.

It is more likely a "take two of these and call me in the morning" type of scenerio than anything. Though many docs do give their patience meds without paperwork approval. I have seen this happen many times.

Heath Ledger was a great actor and will be sorely missed by many fans. Many great actors have to dig so deep into their characters in order to portray them on screen. Heath did a fantastic job as the joker (I'm a long time fan of the Dark Knight) and no one will ever be able to play him the way Ledger did.

His death was a tragedy but I don't believe that it had anything to do with who or what he was portraying. Doctors prescribe to many thing and don't often catch what they have previously prescribed will cause reactions with the new prescription.

his death was was a tragic accident indeed and i don't think it was because of his role as the joker that help cause his death as some would want to believe the med he was taken were giving to him by two different doctors he didn't know that if he mix them that he would die so to that i say rip heath ledger

i think no matter what our opinions are, we can all agree he was a talented actor and that it is a shame he is no longer with us.

I don't think there is any connection. He died from a lethal combo of prescription drugs. I think it was accidental. But one thing has nothing to do with the other in my opinion.

I watched everything I could about Heath's death. And on every single interview it said that it was just the wrong mixture of medicine's. It was something tragic that could have happened to anybody. But, because he was famous people want to jump to the conclusion that he overdosed when that is clearly not the case. He will truly be missed.

While we all agree his his portrayal of the Joker was indeed darker than as it had been played before, the media as always twists it's facts in order to sell what it needs to, his death was an accident plain and simple, there have been many actors to play even darker charactors and they are still around

Haha, he died...months ago? so they drag it back up when the movie is realeased? hmmm, sounds like a publicity stunt to me.
He was a great actor who had alot of guts to take on certain role's and play them asif he was actually that character, but i believe it was a simple OD, an accident at that.
He played a gay cowboy - But you dont see him 6 months later trying to hook up with guys do you? >.

Faceless is so right. The movie comes out and all of a sudden there is a story he died because of the movie. Just another way to get more people to spend money to see the movie

Ugg no this would have been a story no matter what. Heath Ledger did many movies that the public loved and that were critically noted. Anytime a young actor dies people take notice.

That said, as Xavier pointed out, actors sometimes have difficulty letting go of roles. And before people jump at me for saying this, I am not talking about role-play as such. When an actor uses Method acting the idea is to not just act but be the character, and joker is one of those characters that even if you play it nice- that is simply not right.

Working in health care, I can see how after leaving this type of role, having continued sleep issues that are not fully related and having started a new role... how an actor could over look some of the warning signs that his body gave.

For me this type of accident as it is one, is horrid. Had the doctors known something was not right and not acted, then they are liable. Had there been other deaths due to these combinations, they are liable. How it stands from what we know, for whatever reason his doctors were not told of the side effects he was suffering. Typically as the body reaches toxicity there are warnings, and if not reported it can lead to this horrid event.

I'm actually glad that it is getting some attention, but due to the botched media, it is being wasted. No I do not think it's good that Heath died, but he death Could teach millions of people that even common drugs or herbs can be fatal if taken wrong. We have this nonchalant attitude of, "oh, I just take this and it will go away." Never thinking about what it is we are doing. Medication and herbs should be respected when taken, because while they save some of us, they are killers to those that ignore their body or do not report symptoms that occur.

I agree with the input of all of the others, there is also the point that Heath Ledger was having issue with his success as well. He hated the media attention that came with his fame and had many altercations with the paparazzi. He loved acting but didn't want the things that go along with fame--the glitz and glamour, the screaming fans, the fake friends--he just wanted to be left alone. I that his inability to accept the fame that went along with his success, compounded by his lack of sleep and addiction to medications (and misuse of them) was the ultimate cause of his death.

I think the cause of the overdose was the whole method acting thing, simple enough it's very draining on anyone who's ever done it. Not to mention his relationship issues.

I agree with many of you when you say that this horrible event could be used to teach people DO NOT MIX your meds, I don't care what they are or what you think you know. Unless your a doctor or pharmacy expert (been one for 2 years) you could kill yourself extremely easily.

Heck doing something as simple as drinking grapefruit juice with Zocor can kill yo ass, never mind anti-anxieties with sleeping pills and pain-killers...

I have heard of this rumor. Heath was very interested in the joker's role and studied it emensly. I wouldn't doubt that it's true.

i donot believe this myth. Ledgers death was an accidentental OD, nothing more. His portrayel of the joker was excellent to say the least and many actors get into the role good, Yet this did not play a part in his untimely death.

I will agree with Imagesinwords and with several others, Heaths death was not what the media made it out to be, A bad combo of meds. Even though the role was different then his normal roles in the films I don't think that it had anything to do with his death.

The whole incident and drama unfolding reminds me of the tragedy of Brandon Lee during the Crow.

Can movies and roles seep into one’s subconscious so much it affects the life of the actor or other crew on set? I honestly cannot say. We have the added benefit of looking back into the character and dissect whatever we find, or read into the picture the sadness we all feel about his loss.

But if it is universal- what about all the other method actors who have not landed the same fate as Ledger?

True dat, meepster.

I sometimes wonder if these deaths do more of affecting the analyzers of the world. We do have the facts, we do know it was an accident. We know there were no meds taken in excess. Actually- I don't think the movie was affecting his personal life anywhere near as much as the break up of his relationship and having his child no longer living with him. He was on meds to help that issue... and the combination was absolutely, unfortunately, deadly.

Heath was an actor. Heath was an acting pioneer starring in 'Brokeback Mountain'- the most popular, mainstream homosexual storyline in the movies of all time, Academy Award winning Best Picture- which he also recieved Best Actor nomination. That was serious history. And through it, he was a straight man who endured a world of criticism and vicious jokes regarding it. He survived that whole fiasco... when weaker people could have killed themselves over it. He was not a weak man. He was very proud of that role, and made no bones about how he felt concerning it. His confidence in the role and himself as an actor got him through- and even without being typecast in future roles.

I think he thoroughly enjoyed the art in creating a Joker that set the bar for the character, forever. I don't believe the 'Joker' killed him. And again, the movie was over and he was immersed in a totally different movie role when he died- why is this keep getting overlooked?

I would say to Meeper (above) that the reason other method actors may not have suffered the same fate really only boils down to the fact that they didn't happen to be taking the same combination of drugs and/or have the same physiological reaction to them.

Method acting puts alot of people in a crazy place. (remember zeke had an english accent for a full week after the importance of being Earnest? and couldn't make it go away...so he slept because it was making him crazy?) And Ledger had the added difficulty of jumping right into another role which tells me above all other things: the man was exhausted. It's very sad, very unfortunate: but an accident.

I think the one thing everyone should learn from this is, don't just throw medication at your problems.

He had trouble sleeping. Maybe the better solution would have been to take some time off and work on getting his biological schedule back in order. Maybe go to a sleep clinic and find out if there was a deeper issue with his inability to sleep...

There has to be better ways then using chemicals to alter your body's natural responses....

I read that he died of sleeping pills overdose because he couldnt sleep right and the character he was playing, joker, was making him dellusional. The interviews of him and talking about his role as joker, shows you that he looked pretty intense too. I dont think its a myth either, doctors are discovering that he could have been in deep depression, the character, joker, he was playing could have made it him way and other struggles in his life.

As Imagesinwords has stated MANY times already, Ledger was in the middle of filming another movie at the time of his death. Batman had been in the can for several months.

I don't believe that at all. I think that all this chaos an gossip about his role are indeed just rumors, mostly made up by the media an passed on talk.

Heath Ledger as far as I know an from what I have seen, an my personal thought was he died of an accidental mix of too many, an the wrong meds together. Simply just what Images has said.

I believe his role was indeed a dark role an it might have had a dark effect on him, but I don't believe it had anything to do with his death simply a bad timing. It's a sad loss he was my favorite actor. Unfortunalty these things happen too often with actors/actresses, an of course with regular people in general.

One of the sad things is this happens to "normal" people all the time but you don't hear about it. People just assume that its OK to take all of the medications that doctors give them at the same time or the doctor wouldn't have prescribed them. When you are seeing more than one doctor there is even more risk of this. People need to check with their pharmacist if their combination of medications is safe. A pharmacist knows a lot more about the medications than the doctors do. You would think cases like this would bring it to light more but most people just write it of as another celebrity o.d.

For one you can still be affected by a role YEARS after you've done it :)

Plus he was having issues sleeping and OD'd. Heck I've almost done myself in more than once, and I know better.

In the deepest, darkest recesses of the human heart- we thrive on theories such as these, even tragic ones. I still cannot let go of the idea that in many ways- people come to conclusions they'd rather hear. It's just not as interesting to say someone died, with nothing fishy or exciting.

Now, I am definintely not saying any of you 'want' his death to be even more tragic than it was- just trying my best to point this out. Because all this stuff is really just assumption. I am basing my take on this death with the facts... anything else can only be the wheels of our own minds turning in wonder.

Although I don't think that was the case for Ledger, I could see that as the case for other actors/actresses. They often do become very deeply immersed in their characters - it's their job, after all - so if it's a negative character, it could possibly have a disastrous effect on them.

It has been proven that Heath's death was not a suicide, but a mix of medication.

I thought he was a fantastic actor, and was sad to see all the hoo ha that came after he died.

This proves how easily myths are made, I doubt it will ever go away, some people will now always associate his death with an intended overdose.

Something that his loved ones will always be burdened with.

ooook so james dean didnt die from a car crash, it was a deadly mix of metal and fire that killed him right? lmao!.....i love how in this pc society people mince words, however now that cristian bale got arrested and heath ledger is dead i wonder what will happen next with the curse of the black knight? o.o

I believe that it was a accidental overdose but also did you know that Montel Williams was suppose to talk about him on January 30th on Fox and Friends and just started going off on the war in Iraq, they went to a commerical and didnt bring him back on after. His contract was canceled on February 5th but the shows will play till September. Did he lose his mind too lol

Actually, being against the war doesn't mean you are insane- it just might mean you care about people. Many celebrities use their fame to try and get out messages they have concerning the world- talk shows ive them that forum. It's a common thing.

But we can't get off into political things here, it's against the forum rules. So let's stay away from that.

There are those that want to hold onto the suicide case.. they built on that the moment the story broke. Even after the details stated other wise, they had already went into.."Could his suicide have been prevented?",and "Was he dropping cryptic messages into his lines in the movie." tabloids really liked this angle, I am sure that the publicity really kicked up ticket sales as well.

It is possible that you can become so immersed in a character that you believe yourselves to be them.

This type of thing can happen with not only actors but singers and artists in the music industry.
They have a more active imagination than most, and their onstage "persona" can eventually become a different person from themselves.

In this case it would be the opposite ~ they would be so immersed and fascinated by the character, wanting to know how they would feel, see, touch things, act etc., that they would lose themselves and "become" that character.

I did not bother to read all the replies to this but I did recently see an interview with Christian Bale. He basically said the idea of Ledger dieing because of the role of the Joker was basically a load of hooie.

Bale said that when Ledger put the purple suit on he was the Joker and when he was in street closthes he was his normal self. If thats the case he obviously wasn't living in character. I think that shoots a gaping hole in the theory all by itself.

You hit it, Jack. And even though you can hear that and believe the man who actually knew him well... people only knowing him from seeing him in movies think they have it pegged.

When planning a suicide, you don't generally make an appointment for a masseuse post mortem... that's just freaky.

People seem to be going out of their way to make an urban legend out of a sad and untimely death. It's creepy and pathetic. When you pop ambien, xanax and anti-depressants, it's too much overload for your body. Sadly, it is easy to develop tolerances for all three and people up their own dosages -- and die.

The movie, as images already pointed out, was cut and printed well before this accident. If I had written the screenplay for the Dark Knight, I couldn't be more pleased that rumors like this are erupting. What's funnier is that half the rumor-spreaders haven't the foggiest notion of the history behind the Joker in the first place. What's more, there have been characters in other movies that were thoroughly unstable and the actor/actress still lives and breathes.

Let it go.

Yes dutchess a lot of people do increase their dosage on their own as they build up a tolerance to medications, but the autopsy of Mr Ledger showed that was NOT the case in this instance. The amounts of the medications in his toxicology report were consistent with the amount prescribed. The problem was the combination of the medications he was prescribed was lethal. As I already pointed out a lot of the time doctors are not aware of the problems of the interactions of some medicines and this can be compounded when you have more than 1 doctor prescribing medications. That is why you should always check with both your doctor(s) and your pharmacist(s) as to whether or not it's safe to combine the medications you are prescribed.

i think he kill himself. to make him a legand. the sad thing is they cut out the part where his in the body bag in the dark knight

Wolvie- I totally agree! It's easy to mix medications in such away that they'll kill you even if you took them as directed.
Unless you're a Doctor or in the pharmacy field you're not going to know which things are ok to mix. And in the case of Ledger he got Rx from multiple doctors (which is normal for those who travel) so if you get a possibly dangerous mix of drugs from multiple doctors you can kill yourself easily.

We often think of Dr's as having all the info but most cases they don't and they won't know what you're on unless you tell them.

maybe it because he felt lost and alone he saw that as his greatest roll and went out withb a bang

Uhm, no. It was an accidental death. What do people not get about that? I have to say, it would be just a goofy to say:

"Maybe Princess Diana died in the car crash being chased by the media because she was still so upset over Charles and Camilla."

I think people are still hearing what they want to.

we will never know the truth cause the truth is hidden from the public to keep us asking questions that never will get answered

i have heard the same thing. i do believe it is bs personally.

he died of an overdose of prescriptions that should have been checked. he had so many from different doctors and different countries

Contraindication

In medicine, a contraindication is a condition or factor that increases the risks involved in using a particular drug, carrying out a medical procedure, or engaging in a particular activity.

Some contraindications are absolute, meaning that there are no reasonable circumstances for undertaking a course of action. For example, a baby with a fever should never be given aspirin because of the risk of Reye's syndrome, and a person with an anaphylactic food allergy should never eat that food.

Other contraindications are relative, meaning that the patient is at higher risk of complications, but that these risks may be outweighed by other considerations or mitigated by other measures. For example, a pregnant woman should normally avoid getting X-rays, but the risk may be far less than the risk of not diagnosing or being able to treat a serious condition such as tuberculosis or a broken bone.

from what i have read and seen with him in interviews with him before his death. he did have problums with the role of the joker. he said that he took sleeping pills because the role gave him nightmares and spooked him very badly

One way to help minize the risk is to if possible always use the same pharmacy. For people that travel a lot though it's not always possible. In those cases it's good to use a national pharmacy like Walgreens instead of a department store. I know Walgreen's pharmacies are all connected and their system is set to flag bad combinations of medications. I'm sure there are others that do the same thing, that's just the one I'm familiar with from driving over the road. I found out the hard way that Wal-mart pharmacies are not connected. After that I went to a Target store and checked with them and theirs are not connected either. Even with using a networked pharmacy it's still good to ask about possible conflicts with your other medications and be sure you mention over the counter medications you take as well since those won't be listed in your file. I would guess that in Mr Ledger's case with traveling around the world so much for movies it wasn't possible to use even a networked pharmacy. Incases like that it's good to keep a list of your medications with you at all times that way you can let the pharmacist make sure there isn't any conflicts. I myself have 2 medications that I can't take within 6hrs of each other.

Here's the deal: some people able to take these medications know exactly how to mix and match for a buzz, let's say -- and let's face the facts, it is not uncommon to find heavy prescription abuse these days. Some dispute the amount of drugs, some the combination -- either way, even if one uses multiple pharmacies, etc. there is actually a national database for most pharmacies in the U.S. and they are able to track medications and give advice accordingly. The more pharmacies one frequents, the more likely this info is popping up when the refill a scrip.

Back to the debate of the amount of drugs being "as prescribed" -- according to whom? Ledger had more than one physician and depending what country and doctor wrote the scrip in the first place, the dosage could have been listed as a high one he never should have had in the first place. For example, some docs know a patient doesnt have time to refill every month, so they either write the scrip to take more pills during the day in order to have the patient with extra pills instead of needing to refill every month. ESPECIALLY with controlled substances. If his "mix" was the cause of death, it was more than likely in conjunction with an overdose. With the drugs he was listed as taking, there would have been preliminary reactions while he was conscious (I speak from on experience on that notion).

btw, Lagniappe! Hysterical!!! Princess Di was very sad about Charlie -- I thought you knew that's why she went yanking at the steering wheel...

Poor guy is dead,I wish people would stop the big fish stories. The reports are out-mix up of meds. that simple. no more no less.

Sounds like the horse has taking its whipping good and plenty on this subject?

What purpose is gained by claim such things horror rock, are you so wanting to make a situation that is simply tragic into astonishingly tragic, save your BS for the Tabloid. How would you like it if I suggested that one of your relatives deaths was a suicide? Even after you pointed out the facts? Then blamed your family for a cover-up?

Well I guess that whatever happens, people will only believe what they want to believe in the end, sadly.

That's the trouble with the media portrayal of celebrities ~ reality gets distorted until you end up with a pile of mangled details they may or may not be true!

Oh and dabbler ~ very nice analogy.
Really hits home when people can actually relate themselves to it.

What it all comes down to is that it is sad when ANYONE dies, regardless of their fame or lack thereof. Ledger left us with a great last performance and should be remembered for such and not the "misguided" thoughts of some.

Right on, Petal ~ what an amazing last performance too O_O

i think thats just silly it's just like how people said brandon lee died in the crow because of a family curse,some ppl's minds are just way to creative i think.

That is bull stuff. I mean he played in brokeback mountain does that mean he is going to act like he likes guys.. NO.. He is a actor, he is acting.. He truly did not believe he was the joker.. That IS BUNK..

I would bet that some conspiracy theorist is writing about this as we forum.

Ive been taking notes this whole time! What can I say, I'm a hack.

Whats a Hack?

It was a hard role for him. The character is psychotic and good actors tend to merge themselves into their characters at times. It may not be the movies fault, but I definately think that was part of it.

From what I have seen and heard on the news, he died from an accidental mix up of his prescription medications. Also there was an interview done on E and one other channel( cant remember which one)with his family. That did say he was having nightmares and such about the movie. but that it had nothing to do with his death.

Hmmm. I thought he died of an overdose

Combined effects of medications. That is it.

I really think that before people go spouting off about cover-ups and such that they should do a little research on the character himself. Its just another reason why the scenario doesn't add up to what people are making it out to be.

Yes, it was very unfortunate but very strong facts have been presented to show that thats all it was. An unfortunate event. Lets not beat this horse any longer, or do. I'm don't with it. Dog food anyone?

I'll have some Iams, I hear it's good stuff.

Said horse has indeed been beaten, RIP.