Since his death in 2008, many have considered the possible link between Heath Ledger's fatal overdose and his truly twisted, dedicated role as the Joker in The Dark Knight. The actor had kept a chilling Joker diary (the last words within read "Bye Bye"), but a new law enforcement source revealed that Ledger took his character immersion to astonishing depths.
According to Page Six, police responders who entered Ledger's New York City loft after his drug overdose found that he had transformed his apartment into a shrine dedicated to the Joker, compete with "Batman comic books, literature on the Joker and clowns, small clown statues, and recordings" of Ledger practicing his Joker voice in various octaves. The apartment was "immaculately clean," with all the research stacked neatly.
The source told Page Six:
"[Ledger] was studying up on the origins of clowns and all of the previous Jokers like Jack Nicholson's character and Cesar Romero's, who was the first Joker on TV. He was trying to make his role different from the roles of the other actors. He was even studying how to make his voice different from theirs...He was a perfectionist who clearly had a lot of respect for the character. All of that stuff was very tidy. He cared a lot about it."
(H/T Page Six)
