Heath Ledger locked himself away in his hotel room for a month, reading comic books, to prepare for his role as the Joker. He later said this is the hardest role he's had to play.
Great sites
Quotes
Batman: Why do you want to kill me?
The Joker: I don't want to kill you. What would I do without you?
Mistakes
When the Tumbler has been hit by the Joker's RPG, the camera changes to showing the GPD van trying to regain control, but the Tumbler is nowhere to be seen in the foreground. See more...
The Dark Knight (2008) - 15 trivia entries
Directed by Christopher Nolan, starring Aaron Eckhart, Christian Bale, Cillian Murphy, Eric Roberts, Gary Oldman, Heath Ledger, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman (add more)
Heath Ledger locked himself away in his hotel room for a month, reading comic books, to prepare for his role as the Joker. He later said this is the hardest role he's had to play.
This was the first film since The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King to remain #1 at the American box office for four consecutive weeks. It was finally knocked out of the top spot by Ben Stiller's Tropic Thunder.
In the restaurant scene, right when it begins with Harvey and Rachel talking, if you look to the bottom right of the screen, Heath Ledger, who is not wearing the Joker makeup, is sitting at a table with someone.
(This is not particularly noticeable, hence valid trivia.)
Off-duty Chicago Police Officers along with Officers from Elyria OH, Hammond IN, Buffalo Grove IL and Joliet IL played Gotham Police officer extras.
Christopher Nolan has a son named Rory, for whom the working title of the film ("Rory's First Kiss") was named.
The film was delivered to some theaters under the name "Oliver's Army".
This marks the second time movie characters adapted from another source have lept off the Two-ifc, the world's third or fourth tallest building, in Hong Kong. (The similar-looking building that Batman enters is the building's shorter and earlier-constructed twin, the One-ifc.) The first was in
Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life in which Lara and Terry Sheridan leap off the still-under-construction building to escape their pursuers.
Heath Ledger wanted to have the Joker's clown makeup to have a "real" quality so he applied the clown makeup himself every day.
To prepare for his role as the Joker, Heath Ledger lived alone in a hotel room for a month, formulating the character's psychology, posture and voice (the last one he found most difficult to do). He started a diary, in which he wrote the Joker's thoughts and feelings to guide himself during his performance. He was also given Alan Moore's comic "Batman: The Killing Joke" and "Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth" to read. Ledger also took inspiration from Alex in A Clockwork Orange(1971) and Sid Vicious.
The tall building overlooking Gotham City that Batman perches himself on while deep in thought is actually the Sears Tower in Chicago (mentioned in making-of TV special), where most of the film was shot on-location.
Robin Williams, Lachy Hulme, Paul Bettany, and Adrien Brody all expressed interest for the role of the Joker before Heath Ledger was cast.
Heath Ledger found inspiration for his portrayal of the Joker from Sex Pistols bassist Sid Vicious, among other sources. Gary Oldman (who plays Commissioner Gordon in the film) played Vicious in the biopic Sid and Nancy.
In the banquet scene, when the Joker and his troop arrive, the man that the Joker says reminds him of his father is Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont. Senator Leahy is a huge Batman fan and has lent his voice to the animated series and also had another small cameo appearance in Batman and Robin.
Dwight Yoakam turned down two roles in this movie. Originally he was offered the part of a cop; then he was offered to play a banker who had dealings with the Joker (Heath Ledger). Yoakam passed on both roles because he was working on a Buck Owens tribute album.
When Christian Bale is asking Morgan Freeman to reinforce his suit and make it more flexible, he says, "Is it dog resistant?" to which Freeman replies, "Well, it's cat resistant." A subtle hint at a certain feline nemesis in the future, maybe?
reddit
Facebook