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Andrew Garfield says Heath Ledger knew The Dark Knight would be a hit

Andrew Garfield says Heath Ledger knew The Dark Knight would be a hit

Heath Ledger felt that way The Dark Knight would find its audience – and according to Andrew Garfield, he didn't keep that thought to himself.

On his last visit to… Happy, sad, confused In the podcast, Garfield reflected on the time he spent with Ledger during filming The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassusshortly after the Australian actor completed production on the dark Batman flick.

“He had just done The Joker, he had just finished it The Dark Knightand that was him So “I’m smug about it,” Garfield recalls. “I asked myself, 'How did that go?' and he was like, 'Yeah, it's really good.'”

Andrew Garfield and Heath Ledger in The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus.

Liam Daniel/Sony Pictures Classics


Garfield was still early in his career when he crossed paths with Ledger, for whom he had already gained widespread recognition 10 Things I Hate About You, a knight's taleAnd Brokeback Mountain. The We live in time The actor joked that one of the many lessons he learned from Ledger came from the actor's reaction to a magazine cover beforehand The Dark KnightPublication.

“I remember the way he looked, Rich When the cover of the magazine came out, he was like, 'Oh, they used a f—ing photo,'” Garfield shared. “And I was like, 'Are you kidding, dude, that looks fucking incredible?' And he was like, 'No, the pose is all wrong, it kind of looks like a conventional version of what an actor is… you'll see.' And yeah, I saw it.”

Ledger was found dead in his Manhattan apartment on January 22, 2008 at the age of 28. His death was ruled an accidental drug overdose and attributed to a lethal mix of prescription drugs.

When The Dark Knight When Ledger was released in theaters in July 2008, six months after his death, he was right: the Christopher Nolan-directed film broke several box office records, became the highest-grossing film of the year and is still considered one of the greatest superhero films at all. Ledger received numerous awards posthumously, including the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor.

Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight.
Warner Bros. Pictures

Garfield only had the pleasure of working with Ledger briefly, but added that the actor had a noticeable impact on everyone who worked with him.

“He was kind of a beacon, it was like a wild animal,” Garfield said, later adding, “He was so free and so wild and so dangerous on set, in a way that was inspiring and spontaneous.” He said before every take or before every take in every scene, 'Let's have some fun with this.'”

Back then, as a young actor, Garfield was overly concerned with “getting it right,” but he has since come to appreciate Ledger's direction.

“I still have a lot of memorabilia about him,” he added. “I remember the day I first met him and he was wearing these awesome Ray-Ban camouflage sunglasses and I was like, 'Oh hey, cool sunglasses.' And the next day they were like in my dressing room, he had just left them for me. He was just a very generous, beautiful and creative spirit.”

You can hear Garfield reflect on his friendship with Ledger in the podcast episode above.

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