Filmography: Heath Ledger

Heath Ledger's career and life were tragically cut short on January 22, 2008, but his short filmography, full of brave choices and showcasing an unbelievable screen presence and range, will certainly be a testament to his talent and the performances he would have given for years had fate allowed.

Ledger's career started on Australian television, but soon he found a US audience when he starred in the 1999 teen comedy 10 Things I Hate About You.

Nearly a decade of electrifying performances followed in a career likely to be studied and admired for years to come.

1999 Two Hands (Jimmy), 10 Things I Hate About You (Patrick Verona)
2000 The Patriot (Gabriel Martin)
2001 Monster's Ball (Sonny Grotowski), A Knight's Tale (Sir William Thatcher/Sir Ulrich von Litchenstein of Gelderland)
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In a film full of inspired performances, Ledger stood out as Sonny, the kind-hearted but troubled son of a racist executioner, in Monster's Ball. His short role in the film amplified the pain of the lead characters and exposed a side of the actor no one ever knew existed.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 2002 Four Feathers (Harry Faversham)
2003 The Order (Alex Bernier), Ned Kelly (Ned Kelly)
2005 Casanova (Giacomo Casanova), The Brothers Grimm (Jacob Grimm), Lords of Dogtown (Skip Engblom), Brokeback Mountain (Ennis Del Mar)
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In 2005, Ledger took on what would be the riskiest role of his life: Ennis Del Mar, a Wyoming ranch hand who falls in love with rodeo rider Jack Twist in Ang Lee's acclaimed Brokeback Mountain. He breathes life into one of the most complicated screen characters of the decade. Ennis was a quiet and conflicted man with dreams he never allowed himself to fulfill. Ledger plays the man of few words with astonishing maturity, depth and clarity. It was the part that showed the world what he was capable of and earned him his first Academy Award nomination.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 2006 Candy (Dan)
2007 I'm Not There (Robbie Clark)
2008 The Dark Knight (The Joker)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ It's the role no one will dare to touch again. The Dark Knight had high expectations to live up to as it blazed into cinemas last summer. It was the sequel to the well-loved Batman Begins, featured the ultimate Batman baddie the Joker, and starred Heath Ledger in his last completed film role. It not only met expectations, it overwhelmingly exceeded them. Ledger's was the performance of the year, his definitive, diabolical Joker revealing deep wounds beneath a psychopathic surface. The performance earned Ledger numerous posthumous acting awards, including the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor, which his family accepted on his behalf.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 2009 The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (Tony)