I Am Heath Ledger Page #4

---

even when he was young,

even as a supporting actor,

he will steal the movie,

steal the whole show.

It sort of turned

things a little bit,

and people viewed him

a slightly different way,

a little bit more

of a dramatic actor.

When I read Spider-Man,

I talked to him about it,

and he was almost immediate

that he said,

"That makes no sense for me.

I can't possibly

be Peter Parker."

He was looking, always,

for something that was

gonna be truly challenging,

to try to figure out ways

that he could absolutely

disappear into a character

and almost be unrecognizable.

That's what really drove him.

In his process of picking

what film he was gonna do,

most of that came

from who was directing it.

Shekhar was a director

that he always wanted

to work with.

He recommended Heath,

myself...

We go out in the desert

by ourselves.

You know, just the two of us.

Heath stood there,

looking down the valley,

and we both

just started yelling,

trying to see how far

your voice will carry.

It's you and the desert.

You're forced

to look at yourself.

The impression

you have of yourself

when you look in the mirror

is up to you.

You can see

whatever you want to see,

and you can be

whoever you want to be.

He was really

at the start of a journey

that was a lot more focused

as an artist.

Acting is learning

about the life around you

and the person you are.

You can learn all the techniques

in the world,

but if you know nothing

about life and yourself,

then you're at a loss.

And since

we have to believe it,

for us, for the audience

to believe

what you're putting out there,

you must believe it yourself.

I will not be responsible

for your death.

How could you be responsible

for my death?

I will die

if it is God's will...

Yes?

That film was a bit

of a soul-searching.

We all grew from that film.

He told me that when

they wrapped his character,

he stood in the middle

of the whole set

and collapsed.

I'd been asked to

do this movie called Ned Kelly.

A small role,

but I was interested

because of Heath.

I thought he was really

a powerful young actor.

I remember the first day on-set,

and I was blown away.

I just felt an incredible

connection very quickly,

so intense that it was

sort of quite shocking.

We connected about acting,

and he saw the work

that I was putting in

and also working

with a dialect coach

and acting coaches,

and he was looking

to change it up.

His approach to his work

was always very intense.

He had the voice down.

He had these sort of

intense eyes.

It takes some real focus

to make that shift

into the world of what

he felt was more artistic.

He really, truly was an artist.

We knew his visual talent

from the photography,

but I didn't know that

it was going to get so serious.

He called me,

and he was like,

"Man, I've got this idea,

and we're gonna

make this video."

I'm thinking,

"You've got so much to do.

How do you have time

to consider me?

How do you have time

to think about this?

How do you even

have the care?"

That's what was going on

in my head

while he's talking me

through this idea.

"How? How do you do this?

How do you stay so active?

How do you stay so interested?

How do you burn so bright

all the time?"

It's just how he always was,

and I was more than happy

to be one of his test subjects

towards becoming a director...

Ca use an effect...

...And let's just do it.

Let's just grab a camera

and shoot.

Okay, let's

do your eye.

All right.

So let's get on with it.

Hum

Hum

Hum hum hum

Yeah.

Hum hum hum hum hum

Let's do it.

Throw ya hands

in the sky with me

Put 'em up like a dirty cop

told ya to freeze

Now close ya hands

to a fist and squeeze

If you represent freedom

and you fight for peace

It's the all-out fallout

I'll come if you call

Run with it quick

I'm fitted fit

More fit than 'em all

More fitter than them

busty booty MILFs at the mall

Milk leakin' out the tit

I pounce quick and I maul

Them baller cats

need to sit back on the bench

N'fa's the fresh breath

amongst the virulent stench

The violence won't end

I document with Biro or pen

Blood leaking

while they're freaking

I'm performing

and trying to take it in

and trying to impress my mate.

Despite who he is to the world,

he's still my mate,

and I'm trying to impress that

and get him going,

and he's getting me going.

Throw ya hands

in the sky with me

Put 'em up like a dirty cop

told ya to freeze

Now close ya hands

to a fist and squeeze

The louder he got,

the more into it I got.

I grab my balls

and I spit on the floor

Throw a fist for freedom

to shock all y'all

No 50/50

If you ain't with me

then f*** all y'all

If ya with me

let me hear ya roar

Come on now

If he wants me

to bark at me what to do,

Imma take it,

because the best guy

in the planet

is telling me how to be better.

If you represent freedom

and you fight for peace

To work with one

of my very best friends

and do something creative,

like, there's not much better

than that.

Now close ya hands

to a fist and squeeze

If you represent freedom

and you fight for peace

It's big today.

They're there, huh?

That's Skip charging.

Sh*t, dude.

My first concern

when I heard that he wanted

to play the part

was I kind of really wanted

more of a character actor,

in a way.

Philip Seymour Hoffman

looked more like Skip,

then Heath Ledger is, like,

a heartthrob or whatever.

I'm like, "Wait a minute.

I don't know

if this is gonna work."

Heath, he came in

and talked to me,

how he would really

get into that character

and craft it,

and he decided he had to get

teeth made like Skip's teeth...

Back to the boneyard

for you, pal.

...So that he would feel

that he was Skip

and talk the way Skip talked.

This interest in the exterior

and the craft

and the way that the characters

would look and sound

and physically look onscreen,

he was sort of a painter

in that way,

but he also had a psychological

interest in his characters.

Oh, nice socks, man.

Nice socks, nice socks.

If you don't have

a sense of play

and if you're too serious,

the odds are you're gonna be

too much of a tightass

to create characters.

Skip Engblom

and the Zephyr

skateboard team.

Here's our entry fees.

Now, where's

our trophies?

I don't think

he would be afraid

to try any acting technique.

He had a confidence,

but he wasn't afraid

to go and check the monitor

and watch playback afterwards.

He wanted to keep exploring

with it and pushing it.

He knew that he'd get it right

when the time came.

Well, Heath was just so open

and curious

and absorbing

everything around him.

He fully transformed himself.

He has a wig, he has the teeth,

and he just slides

into this crazy other skin.

One thing that

I don't think people realize,

as fantastic as he was

in Brokeback Mountain,

he left Lords of Dogtown

and was playing that role

about seven days later.

Come on,

you f***in' homo.

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes