See Heath Ledger’s Haunting Diary As He Prepped To Become The Joker

All of that will change thanks to a German documentary that is attempting to shed light on the secretive life of Heath Ledger.

The documentary, titled Too Young to Die, chronicles Ledger’s evolution from young Australian performer to complex character actor. There were also a few pages of his dialogue from “The Dark Knight” when the Joker met Harvey Dent at Gotham General Hospital, according to Superhero Hype. He said that sort of action was typical of his son for any movie, but he thought this diary-keeping was “a whole new level”. Many believe that the stress and intensity that came with Heath Ledger’s preparation for the role played a part in his tragic death several months later.

While it might not explain his death explicitly, it does, at the very least, show us how dedicated he was in preparing for the role that would win him a posthumous Oscar for Best Supporting Actor. As he flips through the pages of the diary, we can see images and clippings from Stanley Kubrick’s A Clockwork Orange, a cackling hyena, actual Joker cards from decks, comic strips of the character, and a photograph of a smiling clown.

The fact that he locked himself in a hotel room for over a month to get in the mindset of the warped character is well known, but less so is the journal he created and used as inspiration for the character.

The studio describes the film stating, “Heath Ledger was also a very talented photographer, created collages and produced innovative music videos”. It’s a video that fans won’t want to miss.

That a clip from more than a year ago, from a documentary release three years ago, can garner so much attention on the matter only speaks to the impact Ledger’s performance had on those who saw the film.