‘I’m Furious…Not Inclined To Watch It’: Jack Nicholson Hated Heath Ledger’s Joker So Much He Refused To Watch The Dark Knight
Jack Nicholson, is the legendary actor known for his iconic roles in famous movies such as Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining and Tim Burton’s Batman. His portrayal of the Joker has his own style and aesthetic to it due to the artistic style Tim Burton adds to his movies. Jack Nicholson clearly has a spark for playing the characters who have gone off-the-rail with their psyche and has admitted that he loves those kinds of roles to fall into his portfolio. The actor has even come out to mention that he is furious with the future films that involved the noir-caped crusader and the clown prince of crime.
The Tim Burton Joker
Here’s the reason Jack Nicholson was “furious” when the late legend, Heath Ledger took over as the Joker in The Dark Knight. Jack Nicholson seemed like the ideal choice from the beginning for a live-action portrayal of the Joker, but a lot of other performers were also considered for the part in 1989’s Batman. His portrayal even inspired the latest version of the character to a certain extent. Legends such as Robin Williams and Willem Dafoe were among the actors trying for the role. Jack Nicholson’s the Joker has a certain style that none of the other films that portrayed the clown prince of crime have been able to master as of now. Nevertheless, Jack Nicholson accepted the role after negotiating a highly lucrative contract for himself in the process. Although it may sound as though he accepted the job because of the money, he not only gave The Joker his all but was also fully committed to the film as well.
Jack Nicholson wishes he can play the character one more time
Not only did the fictional supervillain permit him to go to the extremes of depicting the criminally insane, but he also claimed that when it came to the Joker, there was no such limit. Batman 1989 finished with Jack Nicholson’s Joker being practically dead for the rest of the franchise. A bold move by Tim Burton to kill off such an iconic character that is arguably what completes the character of The Batman, however, it won’t be the first time that the purple-suited criminal mastermind would end up dying in DC’s films, at least not in the animated films of the Batman. The actor has also played the character of Jack Torrance in The Shining where the character slowly goes off the rails. Later sequels featured A-list actors playing various villains, including Jim Carrey, Michelle Pfeiffer, and Arnold Schwarzenegger. The actor has openly stated that he would have loved to reprise his role and add more flair to the character as it challenged his acting skills when it came to being an over-the-top maniacal character.
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His hate is not directed towards the late legend
When it came to the actor expressing his thoughts on the casting decisions for the Joker for future Batman movies after Tim Burton’s version was shelved, he stated that “Maybe it’s not a mistake. Maybe it was the right thing, but to be candid, I’m furious.” When asked about The Dark Knight itself, the actor said “I’m not inclined to watch it because of what I said. But if it’s a good movie, I’ll catch up with it somewhere.”
Clearly, the actor has no personal grudge or hatred towards the late legend, Heath Ledger. His frustration seems to be coming from the fact that no one has approached him to reprise the role even after having such an iconic take on the character.
Source: ScreenRant
