Aaron Eckhart was one of a number of actors privileged to work with the late Heath Ledger before his unexpected passing in 2008.
Eckhart, who worked with Ledger on “The Dark Knight,” looked back on Ledger’s incredible talent in a conversation with The Huffington Post last week. Eckhart told host Lauren Moraski that Ledger’s artistry, which won him a 2009 posthumous Oscar for his role as The Joker was “on another level.”
Eckhart recalled what it was like to film the hospital scene from “The Dark Knight,” during which his Harvey Dent character comes face-to-face with Joker. The actor said he laid in that hospital bed for hours as the crew lit the scene. Eckhart watched Ledger pace back and forth around the hospital bed to learn the patterns in his process.
“That’s how we developed the scene and worked for it. It was really nice.” Eckhart said. “ ... Afterwards, we were walking off set and Heath put his hands on my shoulders and he said, ‘That’s what it’s all about.’”
The “Bleed for This” actor said spontaneous moments like that made the scene work well.
“It was a nice moment as actors because it was very organic, it was natural,” Eckhart said. “We were working together, we were using each other and the scene’s effective.”
Eckhart also mentioned that the late star also received praise from actor Gary Oldman, who also starred in “The Dark Knight” alongside Ledger.
“When you have Gary Oldman, who’s one of our greatest actors, sit there and sort of be in awe of Heath, you can imagine how good that was,” Eckhart said.
Hear more from Aaron Eckhart in the video above and watch the full interview here.
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