Few performances are as memorable as Heath Ledger’s terrifying, smirking inevitability as The Joker in The Dark Knight, a role which earned him a posthumous Oscar. Now Kotaku and Newsarama have tipped us to a 1979 interview of Tom Waits which is eerily similar to The Joker’s voice, inflections, and mannerisms. Thinking Heath Ledger’s inspiration for The Joker may have been Tom Waits isn’t as far-fetched as it seems. The two worked together in Terry Gilliam’s The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, a movie which took so long to develop that it’s conceivable the two could have met at some point before The Dark Knight filmed.
A then 29-years-old Tom Waits can be seen shambling, smirking, and being captivatingly weird in a 1979 Australian talk show hosted by Don Lane in the video below. Skip to 1:30 to see the start of the interview. I kept waiting for Waits to offer a magic trick demonstration to host Don Lane. I’ll just have to settle for the magic of watching Cookie Monster sing Waits’ “God’s Away On Business” instead.
MIND = BLOWN
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That’s pretty much it. OSCAR REVOKED.
That’s not how Oscars work.
You’re kidding me.
Dude, that’s a huge part of an actor’s job is creating the character and bringing him or her to life. Actors draw inspiration from everywhere, like all artists. That doesn’t make his performance any less incredible. And I think it actually makes it cooler; I mean, that he could take on the voice of Tom Waits is amazing. You really think he should be cleared of his accomplishment because he drew inspiration from an actual living person? Silly.
Nice write up. Now do me a solid and go look up “sarcasm” and holler at me.
This interview was from 1979 in Australia. You know who else was from 1979 in Australia? HEATH LEDGEOMFGGGGGGGR
I can’t handle this.
Amazing.
You can tell the exact moment the heroin hits him hard.
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not to be “that guy” or anything, I was saying this as soon as the The Dark Knight came out. No one really agreed with me then. Feels good to be validated by this super-credible blog. Also, Tom Waits>The Dark Knight. That guy is my goddamned hero:
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Sorry I ever doubted you.
I believe you, but this idea has been running around for a while.
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I had this commissioned by an artist named Terence Brown II:
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Christian Bale obviously modeled his Batman voice on Waits as well.
Y’know this is kinda old news…like, months old. Also I resent being told to skip listening to Tom Waits sing just to watch the interview.
Ledger’s last film The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus had Tom Waits in it. He played the Devil. BOOM!
I probably should read the whole post next time.
That’s awesome… definitely see the comparison.
That 1979 interview was freakin mind-blowingly hilarious.
stoned is an understatement