‘Joker’ Heath Ledger Was Initially Approached To Play Batman & Not His Arch Nemesis? Christopher Nolan Once Recalled, “He Said, ‘I Would Never…’”

While Robert Pattinson currently plays ‘The Caped Crusader’ in Hollywood, several other actors – including Christian Bale (The Dark Knight), Ben Affleck (Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice), Michael Keaton (The Flash) and more, have also played the DC superhero. But did you know this list could have also included ‘Joker’ Heath Ledger?

As per over a decade-old report and the ‘Dark Knight’ trilogy director Christopher Nolan’s confession, Ledger was initially approached to play the hero in the superhero franchise and not his arch nemesis. Read on to know why he rejected it and why he finally decided to be part of it – as the memorable Joker.

As per a 2012 report in NME, while speaking at the Lincoln Film Centre in New York that year, Christopher Nolan got candid about Heath Ledger rejecting his offer to play ‘Batman’ Bruce Wayne in his ‘Dark Knight’ Trilogy. Recalling the rejection and the reason for it, the director had said, “He was quite gracious about it, but he said, ‘I would never take a part in a superhero film.”

Christopher Nolan further noted that post the release of Batman Begins in 2005, Heath Ledger was super impressed and actively sought the role of Joker in The Dark Knight Rises. In the same conversation, the filmmaker further stated that Heath Ledger was cast for the role before the script was finalized and prepared for months to ace his act as the Joker. The ‘Oppenheimer’ filmmaker said, “Heath spent months and months (preparing); we cast him even before the script was written so he had a very long time to obsess about it, think about what he was going to do, to really figure it out.”

A while after essaying the role of Joker in The Dark Knight, the Australian actor passed away (on January 22, 2008). He won the Academy Award and a Gloden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor posthumous for this role.

Would you have liked to see Heath Ledger as Batman? Let us know in the comments.

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