Although it's hard to believe, it was almost 10 years ago—on January 22, 2008—that Heath Ledger died in New York City, at just 28 years of age. I Am Heath Ledger debuted at the Tribeca Film Festival and will screen on Spike TV this Wednesday. Watching this tender narrative, it's hard not to imagine all the wondrous things he could have made. The film features intimate footage and moving remembrances from those who knew and loved him, including Naomi Watts, Ang Lee, Ben Harper, and several members of his family.
Here are seven things we learned about the late actor from the documentary.
1. Ledger was constantly filming and photographing the world around him.
I Am Heath Ledger would have been a very different account without the actor's own footage. "There were always cameras around," remembers former girlfriend, model Christina Cauchi. It seems that Ledger filmed everything, from searching or even cheeky, grinning shots of himself in a mirror to between-takes glimpses of Lisa Zane, the woman he fell in love with and followed to Los Angeles after they met while filming the TV series Roar (incidentally, yes—she is Billy Zane's sister). Studded with this self-taken imagery, from his mobile, boyish grin to quieter, more contemplative moments, the documentary really does feel like an intimate view of Ledger's life.
2. Ledger had seemingly boundless energy.
One of Ledger's defining characteristics was his enthusiasm and constant energy. "Heath was the most alive human," says musician Ben Harper; he and Ledger's agent, Steve Alexander, tell of being woken or constantly contacted by him, and Harper even explains that the actor's email address started with "illberunningaround." Sadly, one of the reasons Alexander says he thought something might be wrong before the actor passed away was that he hadn't heard from Ledger as much as he usually would have.
3. He started his directing career with a creative company called The Masses.
With his friend, writer and producer Matt Amato, Ledger started a company that reflected his voracious appetite for all kinds of culture. In the documentary, Harper describes a conversation in which Ledger tells him how passionate he is about the song "Morning Yearning." (Harper, for his part, once wrote a lullaby for Ledger's daughter Matilda.) As a result, Ledger made a video for the song. He also made a video for another close friend, Australian musician N'fa Jones. That process was thoroughly documented, and we get to see Ledger in the director's chair, confident and totally switched on.
4. Even before there was 'Entourage,' Ledger's house was a kind of Entourage-esque crash pad.
Actor Ben Mendelsohn, who most recently appeared in Rogue One, described his friend's Loz Feliz home as a kind of "pre-'Entourage' entourage house." With a DJ set up and an open door policy, his home saw visitors including ex-girlfriend Naomi Watts, Rose Byrne, and Joel Edgerton—even when Ledger himself was away for work.
5. The Joker's lip-licking tic has an accidental origin.
Perhaps one of Ledger's most memorable roles was that of The Joker in The Dark Knight. Taking on the role so definitively portrayed by Jack Nicholson might have scared almost anyone off, but the Australian actor pushed himself as a matter of principle. Many were surprised by the casting, but the critical reception was rapturous. Sadly, Ledger had passed away when he won posthumous awards for the role, including an Oscar, a Golden Globe, a BAFTA Award, and a SAG Award for Best Supporting Actor.
One of the many details that made his Joker so cannily menacing was his lip-licking habit. But apparently, this was borne of a makeup issue: the prosthetic scar Ledger had to wear would often come loose, and the actor secured it by constantly licking his lips.
6. There's a surprising connection between Ledger and musician Bon Iver.
The melancholy music of Justin Vernon, better known as the folk music act Bon Iver, soundtracks a portion of the documentary. But while it's beautiful in its own right, there's a deeper meaning to its inclusion: Amato was making a Bon Iver video when he learned that his friend had passed away. In the documentary, Vernon describes the effect Amato's grief had on the project, calling it a "three-day wake." After hearing stories about Ledger, Vernon wrote the song "Perth," named after the actor's hometown: The chorus contains the lyrics "Still alive who you love."
7. Before he died, Ledger was working on his directorial debut.
Ledger was a chess fanatic, and the culmination of that hobby, his acting experience, and his directorial aspirations was to be a film called The Queen's Gambit. Based on a novel by Walter Tevis about a chess prodigy who develops a reliance on drugs and alcohol, it was a natural choice for someone who also excelled at the game himself. His choice of material only feels more heartbreaking given the murky circumstances of his death, which involved an overdose of prescription drugs.
