In tribute to the late Heath Ledger and his ridiculous death — easily the saddest, dumbest and most infuriating act by a gifted artist in the year 2008 — here’s a clip I never saw until this morning. In taping this silly bit with Ellen DeGeneres, I love that Ledger went right to work at conveying the unreality of it — mock fear, reading a book, juggling balls, going to sleep, etc.
Given the miraculous nature of Ledger’s Joker performance in The Dark Knight, his winning the Best Supporting Actor Oscar two months from now is all but assured. But if it goes to someone else it will be over the revulsion some feel (myself included) over the circumstances of Ledger’s passing and the appalling waste incurred.
