Friday, July 27, 2012

THE TOM WAITS / HEATH LEDGER JOKER THING

from Newsarama:

A video from a 1979 Australian talk show has been making the viral rounds of late. The YouTube clip features then 29 year-old musician/sometimes actor Tom Waits uncannily serving as inspiration to late Australian actor Heath Ledger’s portrayal of The Joker 30 years later in 2008’s The Dark Knight.

From his voice, to his inflections, to his mannerisms, it’s really like watching Ledger’s iconic performance in a time capsule. Ledger and Waits both acted in Terry Gilliam's The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, released in 2009.

Go straight to the 1:30 minute mark to skip show host Don Lane introducing a short clip of Waits performing the Christmas carol “Silent Night” and preparing his audience in '70s talk show style for how unusual Waits was going to be...


Ledger really steals the show, doesn't he?

2 comments:

Mike_D said...

Wow. That's downright creepy...

Anonymous said...

Filming of The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (which was an incredibly awesome yet entirely bizarre movie that was a trip to see in theatres) took place almost automatically after filming of The Dark Knight, so Ledger wasn't indirectly influenced by Waits. Wonder if Ledger had been a fan of Waits and melded that into the character, or if it was just an insane coincidence...