The Dark Knight Trivia: Did You Know? Heath Ledger’s ‘Joker’ Licked His Lips Because Of The Prosthetics(Pic credit: Movie Still)
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Heath Ledger’s Joker character in The Dark Knight is one of the most memorable characters ever. With his method acting, the actor made the character iconic. There’s a huge section of audience which even considers the character as best villain of all time in the global cinema.
Be it the dialogues of Joker, or he calling himself an “agent of chaos” or his character traits, everything about him is iconic. Even now when we watch the film, Heath Ledger’s performance as Joker sends a chill down our body.
One of the most memorable things about Joker in The Dark Knight was how he used to lick his lips while talking. It indeed made the character more interesting and even intriguing. While many of us thought it was his character trait, it wasn’t so. It wasn’t even planned when the film was being made. And you’ll be surprised to know that Heath Ledger used to do that because of the prosthetics.
According to Mentalfloss.com, Heath Ledger’s dialect coach Gerry Grennel once opened up about it. Gerry who worked with Heath for The Dark Knight, once said that the tickle arose because of the scar prosthetics which extended into Ledger’s mouth. The makeup would loosen as he performed and in order to keep with it, he licked his lips repeatedly.
“The last thing that Heath wanted to do was go back and spend another 20 minutes or half-hour trying to get the lips glued back again, so he licked his lips. A lot,” Grennell recalled. “And then slowly, that became a part of the character.
Isn’t that amazing? What are your thoughts on this? Let us know in the comments’ section.
