f13.net

Actor Heath Ledger has been found dead in a Manhattan apartment, New York police tell CNN.

This is no good for The Dark Knight. How shallow am I that this was my first thought?

This will be so fucking weird when the movie comes out now. 

Is there an actual link to the story? CNN search = STUP!D.

Developing story (http://www.cnn.com/2008/SHOWBIZ/Movies/01/22/heath.ledger.dead/index.html).

Cardiac. Coke? Meth? Red Bull?

they found pills by his body according to nyt.

Did they finish production yet? It is going to be like watching "The Crow".

Ledger was 20x the actor Brandon Lee was.

This is pretty depressing for me.

This news bums me out. I even liked A Knight's Tale.

True, but Brandon Lee would have saved martial arts movies at least (even though the Crow wasn't an MA flick). He was excellent at it, but instead, we just got more Van Damme and Seagal.

What crime did I commit now?

He was the first JKD artist in movies since his dad. It would have been nice. There's not even any point for you to get pissed at that.

Also, we know exactly how and under what circumstances Brandon Lee died. Putting them in the same thread is just bizarre. And slightly insulting.

Because it's stupid. if Jackie Chan couldn't save martial arts with Miracles or Drunken Master and Jet Li couldn't with, uhhhh, whatever. And no one who even watched USA remember who Sammo Hung is, then Brandon Lee wasn't doing dick. While they were doing that, Heath Ledger was becoming one of the greatest character actors of OUR GENERATION.

Also, we know exactly how and under what circumstances Brandon Lee died. Putting them in the same thread is just bizarre. And slightly insulting.

Slightly insulting

You stay classy, internet. 

Can we not turn this thread into a Stray/Schild + peanut gallery flamefest? Pretty please.

Whoa there, I wasn't beat. Dash doesn't know where threads go.
...
This is pretty depressing for me.

My first concern was the movie, too.

Then I read that he has a daughter.

It's been a long time since an actor's death bothered me in any way. I think the last time was when River Phoenix passed.

Ledger was gearing up to star in The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, a Terry Gilliam flick, which most likely would have kicked ass.

What's bad is that he's irreplaceable. At least by someone in his age range.

We are not a age range full of good actors. In fact, mostly (all) dreck.

I don't think Kieran Culkin is working. But then, I don't think he could do it either.

I'm think I'm going to have dinner and curl up in a ball.

Stay classy f13.

Thanks, we will. 

Anyone else? Make it worth my effort. 

Am I the only one who thought he had no talent?

Am I the only one who thought he had no talent? A Knights Tale was one of the worst movies I've ever seen.

This is why we can't have nice things. 

they found pills by his body according to nyt.

If it was no drug overdose, thats just sad.

It it was it still is but he should get a kick in the face posthumously for doing drugs with a two year old daughter.

Actually, douche-ma-tique, I've loved him since Knight's Tale.

You shoulda heard me back when it came out. I think at one point I called Heath a future god.

The sleeping pills he was taking were Ambien (aka Stilnox/Zolpidem) (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zolpidem). This is a controversial drug under federal review in Australia due to claims it causes extreme incidents of sleepwalking and changes in behaviour. There is a case where a man walked over the edge of his balcony and fell to his death while sleepwalking on Stilnox (http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/sleeping-pill-safety-under-federal-review/2007/03/10/1173478729115.html).

Also, if Westboro Baptist Church really pickets his funeral (http://www.godhatesfags.com/written/fliers/20080122_heath-ledger-brokeback-mountain.pdf), they will face violence.

Really didn't expect this.  Upset me more than I would've thought.

It's interesting to consider that the Joker role may very well have killed him- given the rumors about his sleep habits while filming that and that it was apparently sleep medication found on the bed.

If they can get away with picketing the funerals of soldiers, they can picket his. Though people might actually react more strongly, especially if his funeral is heavily attended. I'm still surprised this "church" hasn't suffered some kind of violence at one of these picketings.

I was thinking the same thing, i had read that he let loose his dark side in order to play the role.

Normally celebrity news washes past me. This didn't.

I even liked him in "Ten Things I Hate About You."

From what I've read, his wife left him when he started using heroin during the filming of Dark Knight.  He went into and left rehab within six days.  He had moved to New York to be near to his daughter, and was deeply depressed about the loss of his family.  It's too early to know, but I would be surprised if this was a 'party-all-night, wake-up-dead' celebrity newsfest.  After all, he had asked a family member to give him a wake-up call in the morning and had scheduled appointments with the folks who found him dead.  I think the man needed some rest, and between his depression, his career and his struggle with heroin, sleeping pills were a sanctuary.  He probably never even considered the risk in the face of those other pressures.  Rest in peace.

I, too, first thought of Dark Knight and quickly realized how selfish that was.  But it also speaks to the anticipation that I felt when I read that Ledger would play the Joker.  It seemed like an interesting choice to cast a young and relatively untested actor in such an important role.  I only knew him from The Brothers Grimm, which I fucking loved.  And then I read that he was currently in Gilliam's latest movie.  Knowing the history of his productions, that knowledge almost makes me believe in the supernatural.

He will be missed.

If the Daily Mail printed it, it must be bollocks.

Seriously.

If the Daily Mail printed it, it must be bollocks.

You should, he's a very credible man. It really is sad if he died just from sleeping pills alone and a lack of knowledge as to how they can kill you.

Assuming that the funeral is in his home-town of Perth, there very well could be violence.

Assuming that the Aussie Gov't doesn't just refuse the merry band of inbreds from Westboro' entry in the first place, of course.

EDIT: Just to add - Australian news programming has become the Heath Ledger Death Watch.

From what I understand, he had a documented problem with insomnia. Sad to say, sleeping pills are really easy to overdose on.

This time I actually know something about the topic.  Sleeping pills like zaleplon and zolpidem have a HUGE therapeutic index.  I can't think of a single example of death by overdose from these agents or benzodiazepines in the past 40 years.  Where people get into trouble is when they combine agents, which appears to be the case here.  As a sole agent most current sleeping medications are VERY safe.  Just don't wash them down with alcohol or pop a couple of vicodin with them. 

So, that little shitbag Corey is off the air?

So, that little shitbag Corey is off the air?

He snuck on again yesterday, I didn't see what for.

The Heath Ledger thing is no hyperbole. It's EVERYWHERE.

So, that little shitbag Corey is off the air?

Rolling News by Charlie Brooker (http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=5RRmE0_n0K4).

In other words, the why is because viewers are that fucking dumb.

Bread and circuses. 2000 years later we've walked on the goddamn moon and it still comes down to bread and circuses.

omg Llava got a new avatar! How long's it been, man?

What's bad is that he's irreplaceable. At least by someone in his age range.

We are not a age range full of good actors. In fact, mostly (all) dreck.

Jesus Christ.  Look, I feel bad the guy died but does that mean we have to start talking about how 10 Things I Hate About You, Cassanova, A Knight's Tale, and all of his other horrible films were so great?

"Heath was bursting with creativity. It was in his every gesture. He once told me that he liked to wait between jobs until he was creatively hungry. Until he needed it again. He brought that attitude to our set every day. There aren't many actors who can make you feel ashamed of how often you complain about doing the best job in the world. Heath was one of them.

When you get into the edit suite after shooting a movie, you feel a responsibility to an actor who has trusted you, and Heath gave us everything. As we started my cut, I would wonder about each take we chose, each trim we made. I would visualize the screening where we'd have to show him the finished film—sitting three or four rows behind him, watching the movements of his head for clues to what he was thinking about what we'd done with all that he'd given us. Now that screening will never be real. I see him every day in my edit suite. I study his face, his voice. And I miss him terribly."

Not to be rude, but I wonder if has any footage to re-write the fate of the Joker. More than likely, he was probably going to leave some room for the character to continue on in future films.

Jesus Christ.  Look, I feel bad the guy died but does that mean we have to start talking about how 10 Things I Hate About You, Cassanova, A Knight's Tale, and all of his other horrible films were so great?

But to carry on the derail into characters that were played by different people and that subsequent versions were better how about:

Not going to argue, since you're mostly right.

(McCoy better than Baker ?  You're Insane.)

Would it help if I actually finished my post and put the subscript here?

*Colin - not Tom

Tom Baker is and always will be Dr Who. Every other actor who plays the role will tell you that.

Christ, next you'll be expecting me to believe Bonnie Langford was an assistant or something equally lunatic.

Baker was the best Doctor, but the Tennant run has had much better writing, IMO, mostly because it's a much more modern, naturalistic series. The first Tennant season was just note perfect. Blink was one of the best written pieces of anything ever.

As for Craig being a better Bond than Brosnan, let's be fair. Brosnan never had a good script. Ever. All his scripts had the same shitty, overdone formulaic gadget cliches that the worst of the previous Bond movies had had. The writing on Casino Royale was just loads better, truer to the literary character and that made Craig a much better Bond, because he had something supporting him. I think Brosnan could have done a great Bond, if they'd have just removed all the stupid shit from those movies. And boy was there a lot of stupid, View to a Kill type shit.

Fair point, but look at all of Brosnan's movies.  They've all been pretty shitty, except the Thomas Crown Affair was alright.  But then, that was basically a James Bond movie.

Baker was the best Doctor, but the Tennant run has had much better writing, IMO, mostly because it's a much more modern, naturalistic series. The first Tennant season was just note perfect. Blink was one of the best written pieces of anything ever.

The Tailor of Panama and The Matador were both good if you ask me. I also thought he was brilliant in both.

Out of curiosity, not criticism - how much exposure to Tom Baker era Dr Who have you had on your side of the pond?

Just rounding it the number probably, and slightly exaggerating. He probably just meant that he's smoked a lot. I started smoking weed at 12. I'm 30. If I still smoked, i'd say I was smoking for 20 years.

[edit] read the edit.. maybe he was just fucking with people. i know i would if i was famous

I was into the whole acting thing, a little around that age and after. I don't know about Sydney, but as far as knowing what kind of people actors are like, they're not wild or whatever you're getting at. The majority are insufferable, boring, thespian faggots. For lack of a more polite description.  :-)