Yeah, I just saw it on CNN.  I was channel surfing and I saw the breaking news and my heart literally jumped.  A truly sad day.

I almost posted the same thing! What happened?! 'The Dark Knight' should be dedicated to his memory.

~Zack~

This is the only actor death I've ever really been shocked or shaken up by. This is really sad. I hope they do dedicate the film to him.

-Chris

I'm hearing drug overdose -- hard to tell if it was accidental or not.  They said something about sleeping pills, but I'm not sure he did it on purpose, because he had a masseuse coming...unless he wanted her to find him.  It's very hard to tell, and I'm just writing what I heard on CNN.

And I'm 100% sure Dark Knight will be dedicated to him.

Wow. Very sad. Say what you will about his acting, it's sad that a budding actor has to die so young. It's even more sad that he died when he was potentially reaching the height of his career. Only seven years older than me. Definitely a shock.

Quoted from Elmer This is the only actor death I've ever really been shocked or shaken up by. This is really sad. I hope they do dedicate the film to him. -Chris

Ditto.

Wow.  This si just very weird.  I just saw him in I'm not there, and he was great.

Wow.

Man, this is so unreal.

28 years old - what a shame.

How old is his daughter? Two or three?

What a shame. Such a talented young man.


Matt.

Two year old daughter....ah man.

Only 28 and already had so many big movies under his belt.  Very sad.

Damn.  I just watched 'Monster's Ball' lastnight, too.  It's very sad.

He had a two year-old named Matilda.

“What doesn’t kill you only makes you… stranger.” – The Joker by Heath Ledger

  You can see with a glance to the left a photo of the Joker and know I’m a fan. A fan of the whole mythology of Batman. I’m also a fan of Heath Ledger, before he took on the role and when there were doubts about his ability to pull it off, I didn’t second guess it because I thought Heath had shown tremendous range and dedication to his craft prior. I felt he’d be fully capable, being a solemn person myself and from what I can tell from watching Heath he seemed similar, knowing how excited I’d be to vent in such an obscene character as the Joker, I’m hope Heath took advantage and rather than a burden hope he had a hell of a time playing the role. And I wish Michelle and their baby girl the best of luck being delt this card.

holy cow! that is shocking and tragic

Brad Renfro of The Client fame just died a few days ago at the age of 25

It's really a tragic tragic thing to happen to him.  He was so young and so talented, and had such a promising future.  Now he's gone and now his daughter has no father, it's just incredibly tragic.

It's still confusing as to what really happened, I read this and his folks said he died of pneumonia.  But it doesn't make difference I suppose.

http://www.tmz.com/2008/01/22/heaths-family-he-did-not-kill-himself/


RIP Ledger,

1979 - 2008

I never really liked him, so I was shaken to hear about his death, but not totally shocked or upset .

And no offense, but I saw it coming a mile away--Heath Ledger + Drugs = death. I can't say I didn't expect it.

I do feel very bad for his daughter though. My condolences.

But what worries me the most is The Joker character. I heard he was supposed to appear on another sequel to The Dark Knight. Now that he's dead, they might change plans. It's really lame, because a re-cast would suck, but then again, so would a sequel with a half-assed villian. No other baddie compares to the Joker.

I smell re-shoots and the butchering of The Dark Knight. Actor deaths usually have an effect on their films (Donald Pleasance's death caused Halloween 6 to be butchered, Brandon Lee's death made The Crow shorter than it would've been, etc).

--Julio    

Hey,

I echo all your sentiments. It's truly tragic and a loss.

That said I'm in part surprised at the outpouring of emotion. I had no idea he was so popular or that he had touched so many people. I've heard a couple of times now this being compared to the early demise of James Dean.

Anyway, RIP Ledger.

sheepwalker  

Quoted from ReaperCreeper I smell re-shoots and the butchering of The Dark Knight.

I highly doubt it.  Filming is apparently already wrapped, and he's just all over the trailer.    It doesn't make sense for them to go back and edit the film, which given the genre would probably be quite expensive.

They'll either recast or move on to the Penguin or Mr. Freeze (who still needs to be done properly)

I figured that The Dark Knight had already wrapped filming? Correct me if I am wrong.

I remember watching "10 Things I Hate About You". Not the greatest film ever; but I remember liking Heath Ledger and Joseph-Gordon Levitt. Joseph I already knew from 3rd Rock From The Sun. Its a shame, I bet right after The Dark Knight, his career would have skyrocketed to the clouds. He was a very talented actor; I'm terribly shook up. At first from reading the article. I couldn't believe it, I didn't want to believe it. But its sad, he's truly gone. I wanted to work with him to!

Edit:

Also, I to heard that he was going to be in a sequel; he's going to be doing the scarring of Harvey Dent. Aaron Eckhart's character. I hate it when sequels replace characters with different actors.

This is sad, Ledger was a really talented and promising actor.  

Quoted from Toran Also, I to heard that he was going to be in a sequel; he's going to be doing the scarring of Harvey Dent. Aaron Eckhart's character.

From what I've heard and read, Harvey Dent's transformation into Two-Face will happen in The Dark Knight.

Quoted from Nixon From what I've heard and read, Harvey Dent's transformation into Two-Face will happen in The Dark Knight.

Here I am talking about Mr. Freeze and I completely forgot about Two Face.  Could make things a bit easier for the next installment if the transformation happens in DK.

What loss! Very, very sad, indeed.

Quoted from Helio What loss! Very, very sad, indeed.

My sentiments exactly. Well put Helio, in a very few words.
May peace be with you and yours Heath Ledger.

Just like to add that I to was really shocked when I heard last night.  I hope it's not an overdose, the death of an actor and father is tradgic but if it is confirmed as an overdose I would feel worse for his family, not that I don't feel bad for them now.  As strange as it seems I hope it was an accident.

Man, I keep hoping that this was just some twisted Dark Knight advertising thing or something. Man.

And for those worried about Batman, Aint It Cool News reported that they talked to a person working on the post-production of Dark Knight and said that all of his post-production work had been done as far as ADR and stuff and that the performance was complete.

At least his last performance will most likely be the very height of his career in terms of talent.

And J Gomez, they don't know how he died yet. So don't jump to insulting conclusions.

-Chris

Hopefully the drug suicide angle is not true. He was a good actor and he will be missed.

Gabe

This has trully shaken me also, as I just watched Brokeback Mountain the other week on DVD and loved his acting. He was such a great actor, and he would most definitely been an Oscar winner if his time was not cut so short.

In today's papers here in Australia they're saying he had been battling with heroin addiction since he broke up his girlfriend (who's the mother of his child) last September. He actually played a heroin addict in an Aussie movie called Candy in 2006. Drug addiction is a terrible thing and can make life seem very bleak, no matter how much you have going for you. However, I reckon he loved his daughter too much to deliberately kill himself. Pills really put people in a stupor and he probably lost track of how many he'd actually had when took the fatal dose.  

It's a real waste.  

The first time I saw it was on one of those "running news" scrolls things underneath the Today news, but it was the one scrolling. I assumed it was some kind of misunderstanding or that it was weird advertising, but then they went into an actual segment and had footage of the  body being taken out, etc. I hope hey don't show an autopsy pic on the front of a magazine like they did with Lennon.

it was truly a loss from hollywood and his family.

Christopher Nolan has written an article for Newsweek about Heath ledger, compared to most of the crap that has been written over the last week It is nice to read something so poignant from someone who obviously knew him well.

It is worth a read.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/105580

Truely a sad passing. I was a big fan of Heath's work and he will be sorely missed.

But what really gets me, is that in today's world, the news of his death moved so quickly around the world, his family found out through the media before they were informed officially.  To see the face of your son\daughter (fill in where applicable) plastered all over the TV or the image of your loved one being removed from a scene in a body bag would rip me apart. There is just no privacy anymore.

I happen to have a couple of friends who I feel have potential to become stars in the entertainment industry and I think about what I would feel to see their faces on the news and find out I have lost someone close to me through second hand sources. Crazy.

RIP Heath. We'll miss ya'.
Stew

Cause of death was an accidental overdose.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080206/ap_on_en_mo/heath_ledger


Phil

I flew from Brisbane to Perth on Tuesday morning on and when I came out into the arrivals lounge I was faced with a wall of cameras and reporters. I asked the girl at the car hire place who they were all waiting for and she said it was Heath Ledger's family coming back from the US. I went off on my way assuming that they were arriving on a connecting flight from Sydney or Melbourne. When I saw the news that night they said they flew in on the morning flight from Brisbane and they were speculating on whether the body had flown with them. Weird to think that I was on the same plane as his family and maybe even his body, although nobody seems to know if he was on that flight, still bit of a strange feeling.

I guess it must be a huge releif for his family to know that it was not an intentional drugs overdose, leaves his legacy intact in someway and we can all sit down to watch The Dark Knight and enjoy what seems to an amazing performance.

I'm late posting I guess, but man what a shake up. I was rocked hard, such talent. My girlfriend almost cried. I would assume that The Dark Knight will be in his memory. It is well deserved. I actually watched 10 things i hate about you just because he was in it. Its very odd seeing someone onscreen who recently died. tragic loss.

-Andrew