The news really took me by surprise. Sad, indeed...

Well Loyal, they mentioned his nakedness again... But it wasn't by Nancy Grace.

For both reasons, and in reverse order. The loss of your uncle is a sad event, and I feel sorry for your family, but it's a generalized kind of sadness, because I didn't meet or know your uncle. None of us met Ledger, but that doesn't mean that we didn't come to know a public persona known to us as 'Heath Ledger'. And that Ledger has been with us for years now, almost a decade in fact, so that many of us grew up with him. We saw him develop as an actor, and he seemed to be on the verge of major stardom, with much success ahead of him.

We become, whether we realize it or not, invested in the fate of many celebrities because they and their films mean something to us.

i cant help but wonder if jake gyllenhaals reaction is similar to ennis's reaction to jakes death in brokeback

I remember once seeing an interview of his saying "being father increases responsibilities. I don't want to die young"

But demi-gods are distant. If you feel someone's loss intimately, it means they were somehow close to you, because of their performances, public persona, or whatever else.

Please, seriously everybody please. Unless your Britney Spears, nobody follows your every move.

We all are shocked and saddened because he is playing the Joker in tdk, easily KJ's most anticipated movie of 2008, and he is easily the most anticipated part.

Its sad, but its true.

EXACTLY.

Excel, of course the fact that he is staring in a huge blockbuster movie is important to this and us, but most of us grew up watching Heath Ledger and enjoying his work. It goes far beyond The Dark Knight.

No it doesnt, the guy was a joke until 2005 though i always liked the patriot n a knights tale.

No he isn't. Hes the fucking Joker, thats why we all care. If it wasnt it'd be "whoa that sucks, talent lost to soon" but thatd be. Everybody feels like crap because of what it means for the batman franchise. Having a daughter n being young just makes it worse.

Considering I didn't like Batman Begins and had moderate expectations for TDK outside of Ledger's performance, you can speak for yourself.

As I've said numerous times, I have been a fan since 10 Things I Hate About You.

No, it's not. I'm hotly anticipating TDK, but I couldn't give a lesser damn about the film at this moment. I'm sad because he was so YOUNG. He was in his 20s, and so am I. I don't want to die, and I don't want to think of death, and I HATE the fact that death can occur at such a young age, and his death at this moment informs me of the fact that somewhere someone with a young child died at a young age. Not only that, but he is of MY generation. Someone in my age group, to whom I have not been that closely attached in terms of his career and life but who nevertheless has been with me for a decade, is dead. I'm affected because death has seeped into the life of my young generation. This is not supposed to happen. People our age are not supposed to die yet. You hear of old actors dying, and it's expected, because they are old. For us, death is supposed to be far away; we're supposed to be just starting our lives. So why is he dead? This is not supposed to happen, and it has, and that's why it's upsetting. Because it's NOT RIGHT.

That's exactly why this news is so devastating. because it all feels so incredibly wrong.

Now when I watch 10 Things I Hate About You, which is one of my favorite movies, it will never be the same. I don't see myself being able to laugh or enjoy it at all.

Eh, I think that's just a natural consideration once you mention that he's playing The Joker. Of the five people I've personally told, three have asked that question. I think everyone has genuine concern for him and his family though, so they shouldn't be taken to task for that, IMO.

I said that already. No point mentioning that his death is getting so much attention because of joker.

I'm sorry, I just have to come back real quick and say this is such a terrible, terrible event. I too, grew up with Ledger, and regardless of his films' quality up until Brokeback, we all knew him, and followed his rise to stardom. While it seems cruel people may only be thinking about him more because of TDK, it's really only because of the shock that someone dying so young and so unexpectedly is going to be in such a huge film in only a few months. That hasn't happened to anyone is quite a long time. Ritter had a show, and Bad Santa, but neither was quite as big or omnipresent as this will be. And he was just so YOUNG.

I just watched that scene Magnus posted and cried. I couldn't help it.

And I'm gone again.

I'm completely with Makeshift on this one. It's why I'm feeling all the same feelings.

Peace,
Mike

It's kinda tasteless for you to leave us after talking about the death of someone, yknow. It's like we're being deprived again, since your absence on these boards entails, in essence, your death on this site

I don't want to get into this, but Excel kinda has a point. Brad Renfro, another once up and comer, died last week. He got some attention, but obviously Heath Ledger's situation is different because he was cast in perhaps one of the most anticipated films of this year, and following up one of the most iconic film roles of all time.

Both actors obviously had personal distress that the industry may be partially responsible for, when they put high expections on child actors (Ledger started in the industry and broke out very young, but not as young as Renfro).

But that's beside the point. Hollywood is a culture of addiction and abuse. It's naive to think that actors can be built up fast, and then be completely ready for what the industry entails. I certainly hope that if anything, these sad incidences will serve as a wake up call to many, many in the industry who we know are going through the same thing. Some of them we know about some of them we don't. One reason that this might be such a shock is that there is such a focus on the personal problems of women in Hollywood (Lohan, Hilton, Richie, Winehouse, etc), but it isn't a gender thing that those girls faced, but an overall culture. I certainly hope that those people in the industry, as well as the general public who might be suffering from similar circumstances, don't feel alienated, and get help when they really need it.

Yeah, watching BBM now is going to be one sucky task. It just hits so close to home now, the feelings of lost potential and death.

It's not even like I've seen a lot of his performances. The only films I've seen from his filmography are Brokeback, 10 Things, A Knight's Tale (Which I barely remember) and Casanova. Still, he seemed to have so much potential, and now only in death can we truly reflect on how strong that was.

I can only imagine how difficult The Dark Knight is going to be. Granted, the hurt will have subsided by then, but you'll find yourself caught up in the moment of the film, excited about what you're seeing and how amazing the Joker is, and it'll all come back... You will never see Heath Ledger again.

It's tough to imagine now, but eventually we can enjoy those movies again. Like Loyal said he can now enjoy River Phoenix just like a generation and a half before could watch James Dean again. In the end that work stands for the person and they left it behind for everyone to enjoy.

Yeah, that scene is what I always think of when I hear the name Heath Ledger. That scene made that movie, and is the reason I always loved Ledger. I've seen that movie probably 20 times and never gotten tired of that scene. I always have to watch that one scene at least, whenever the movie is on. There, he's so young and acting like a total goofball. Now it's hard to watch knowing he's gone.