Features > Top Lists > Top 10 Heath Ledger

Top 10 Heath Ledger

On the 22nd January 2011 it will be three years since Heath Ledger’s untimely death. In his 28 years the Australian actor had already carved out a remarkable career, so much so that choosing his top 10 films was no easy task. Known for his dedication for capturing a character, we give you our favourite Ledger roles.

His Top 10 Films

10 Things I Hate About You (1999)

You don’t have to be a teenager to enjoy this high-school rom-com. Twenty-year-old Ledger beat Josh Hartnett and Ashton Kutcher to the lead part of Patrick, a charismatic bad boy who could just about bowl anyone over. A loose adaptation of Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew, this cult classic was a breakout film for Ledger and his co-star, Julia Stiles.

Rent

Two Hands (1999)

Dubbed the 'Australian Goodfellas,’ Ledger was praised for his performance as Jimmy, a bar worker who is asked by a local mob boss to deliver $10,000 to a woman. Trouble is, when she’s not in he decides to go for a swim and the money is stolen from the beach by some kids. Needless to say he’s in trouble with the wrong type of people. Ledger would re-team with writer/director Gregor Jordan in 2003 for Ned Kelly.

Rent

The Patriot (200)

Directed by Roland Emmerich, the man behind modern-day disaster movies Independence Day and 2012, this war drama is set in 1776, around the American Revolution. Ledger plays the oldest son of Benjamin Martin (Mel Gibson), a South Carolina veteran of the French and Indian War, who is raising his seven children alone. Jake Gyllenhaal auditioned and was considered for the same role as Ledger, but the Aussie actor beat him to it.

Rent Watch Trailer

A Knight's Tale (2001)

Another film that proved Ledger could bring real class to comedy. Set in the late medieval Europe of the 1370s, Ledger plays William Thatcher, a poor and humble squire who is determined to prove himself worthy as a knight. While demonstrating a jousting move, Ledger accidently knocked out one of director Brian Helgeland's (Payback) front teeth. Whoops!

Rent Watch Trailer

Monster's Ball (2001)

Playing Billy Bob Thornton’s on-screen son Sonny, Ledger shows it’s not about the length of a part but what you do with it, as his pivotal character changes the course of the story. Monster’s Ball is a surprising, hard-hitting love story between Hank (Thornton) – a corrections officer who lives with his son and racist father (Peter Boyle) – and Leticia (Halle Berry), a widow whose death-row husband was executed by Hank.

Rent Watch Trailer

Lords of Dogtown (2005)

This biographical film is based on the story of The Z-Boys, an influential group of skateboarders who revolutionised the sport. Skip Engblom personally requested Ledger play him, and the performance was critically acclaimed for its accuracy. Originally, executive producer David Fincher hired Limp Bizkit frontman Fred Durst (!) to direct the film. When that fell through, Fincher stepped in himself, but shortly left to take on Zodiac, paving the way for Twilight’s Catherine Hardwicke.

Rent Watch Trailer

Brokeback Mountain (2005)

Who’d have guessed that one of the most romantic films of the last century would be a love story between two cowboys? When Ledger first read the script for Ang Lee’s triple Oscar-winning drama, he said he wasn’t worried about playing a gay man, only about being mature enough to do the role justice. It was on set that Ledger fell in love with his on-screen wife Michelle Williams. In 2005, the couple welcomed a daughter, Matilda Rose, into the world, and the parents asked their Brokeback co-star Jake Gyllenhaal to be godfather.

Rent Watch Trailer

Candy (2006)

An adaptation of Candy: A Novel of Love and Addiction, Ledger stars as a poet named Dan who falls in love with an art student named Candy (fellow Aussie Abbie Cornish). The couple become as hooked on each other as they are on heroin, and their relationship flickers between states of oblivion, self-destruction and despair. Geoffrey Rush co-stars as an eccentric university professor and Dan’s mentor.

Rent Watch Trailer

The Dark Knight (2008)

Director Christopher Nolan said Ledger was his one and only choice to play The Joker. To prepare, Ledger isolated himself in a hotel room for six weeks, delving into the psychology of the character. According to Sir Michael Caine, Ledger topped Jack Nicholson's Joker from the 1989 Batman. When Caine had his first scene with The Joker, he was so shocked by Ledger’s performance that he forgot his lines. This was Ledger’s final, completed role and he won a posthumous Oscar for Best Supporting Actor.

Rent Watch Online Watch Trailer

The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (2009)

Ledger's last movie project, Parnassus hadn’t finished shooting when news broke on 22 January 2008 that the actor had died of an accidental overdose at his New York home. Director Terry Gilliam temporarily suspended production and was going to abandon the film, but decided to "salvage" it as a dedication to Ledger’s memory. Johnny Depp, Colin Farrell and Jude Law stepped in to film Ledger’s remaining scenes in an artful rewrite, and donated their fees to Ledger's daughter, Matilda Rose

Rent Watch Trailer

Tegan Kniveton