Tragic Death of Brokeback Star Stuns the Acting World

New York was shaken Tuesday when 28-year-old Australian actor Heath Ledger was found dead in his SoHo apartment. Within hours, it seemed everyone had heard the news, and a large crowd formed around the building on Broome Street. The gossip web site TMZ.com streamed live footage of Ledger’s body being carried out in a body bag, an example of the media’s gross intrusion into celebrity life.

It seems easy to compare Ledger’s untimely death with that of James Dean, another talented and handsome actor who died tragically at the peak of his career, but the comparison is apt. Ledger will likely be memorialized similarly, forever frozen in a state of youth and remembered for the complex roles he chose to play. But unlike Dean—who played just three major roles in films before his infamous 1955 car crash—Ledger had the opportunity and the motivation to flesh out his talent in an impressively large number of films.

During his career, Ledger turned down superficial heartthrob roles in favor of challenging, multifaceted characters like Ennis Del Mar in 2005’s epic Brokeback Mountain. That role was groundbreaking, as was Jake Gyllenhaal’s performance as Del Mar’s cowboy lover, Jack Twist. The film prompted a national discussion on homosexuality and homophobia, and Ledger’s subtle showing earned him an Oscar nomination.

Recently, Ledger appeared alongside a formidable cast in the Bob Dylan biopic I’m Not There, playing one of seven personas based loosely on the folk legend. Ledger looked entirely comfortable in his character’s skin, in his own unique and impossible-to-articulate way.

Ledger’s last completed film will be released posthumously this summer. He plays the Joker in the latest installment of the Batman chronicle, The Dark Knight, slated for release in July. If the trailers and early commentary are to be trusted, the performance will be far darker than Jack Nicholson’s original depiction. That’s certainly no surprise, given Ledger’s penchant for profound interpretations of his characters.

Though Ledger’s photo doubtlessly adorns the walls of as many tween girls as Brad Pitt’s, Ledger was able to transcend the label of Hollywood heartthrob through his careful choice of roles. He was something of an anomaly in that sense: a bona fide, sincere, and talented actor universally respected by his colleagues. A sign in the makeshift shrine that has sprung up in front of his apartment building reads, “I couldn’t find anything bad about you.” This sentiment seems universal in and out of the film world.

Ledger was a true artist, a master of his craft. We all wish he could have lived longer and continued to amaze and entertain us with his unmistakable smile and seemingly bottomless depth, and that he could have seen his infant daughter grow up. It’s a tragedy for that little girl who will have to live without a father, and for the world, which has lost a great actor.