Trivia drives fandom and that is more true now than it ever was. As nerd culture gripped the mainstream, Hollywood and related industries became heavily interested in the business of behind-the-scene stories and easter eggs, a phenomenon that seems to have no intentions of slowing down.
One such piece of trivia that is widely accepted as truth is a particular scene of Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight, starring the late Heath Ledger. The infamous Hospital explosion scene was, in fact, not improvised by Ledger. This might confuse those who have heard otherwise, but there was a lot of thought and planning that went into this scene.
The delayed explosion on the Hospital Scene was planned
Heath Ledger was a gifted actor with peers. However, when it was announced that he would play the Joker, there was intense backlash about the matter. However, the film opened in theatres, and the rest as they say is history. Although the actor’s prowess with his talent is unquestionable, the fact that he saved a scene by his sheer improvisation is not only unfounded, it is false.
Christopher Nolan, the director of the Batman trilogy, came out to explain why there was a delay in the explosion to begin with. The special feature Gotham Uncovered: Creation of a Scene, included in The Dark Knight‘s home release, explores this scene, where Nolan spoke about the idea behind the delay, which was not accidental but planned. He said:
“[Special effects supervisor Chris Corbould] was able to come up with a scenario in which Heath could actually be walking out of the building because what Chris worked out is if we put in a little beat where the first set of explosions stops as if something’s gone wrong, and the Joker just takes a second to look around surprised like the audience is surprised, then the major demolition comes in and he jumps straight into the school bus. In that way, he was able to come up with a practical scenario in which we could actually take a principal actor, walk him out of a building that’s about to be destroyed, and literally drop the building to the ground.”
The primary idea was to surprise the audience, while also keeping the actor safe. Ledger was a major talent on set, and his and other cast member’s safety needed to be kept in mind while the scene played out.
Heath Ledger remains the best Joker that we have seen in live-action cinema.
Many actors have essayed the role of the clown prince of crime. Each has embodied a particular aspect of the Joker. Ceaser Romero played the clown. Jack Nicholson was a gangster. Jared Leto played the psychopath. Joaquin Phoenix played the comedian. All these actors embodied a part of the Joker. However, what made Ledger’s portrayal of the character special was the fact that he was, in a word, an anarchist.
The Joker that Ledger portrayed did not care for rules, or order. He was in the simplest sense, a chaotic evil character, who had been hurt by society, who had his reservations about the system, and who had decided to take matters into his own hands. The Clown Prince of Crime will surely be portrayed many times in the future, but Ledger’s character will always hold a special place in fans’s hearts, hospital scene or not.
