Do you think taking the role of Joker in the upcoming Batman movie aided in Heath Ledgers death?

no joke, a month before he took on the role, he locked himself in a hotel and studied the joker, experimented with laughs and voices, and meditated on the character.

Anyone who knows the character of Joker, knows that he is a sadistic, sociopathic, and sick killer with no regard to his actions.

Maybe this combined with Ledgers drug problem aided in his overdose? What do you think?...

To be quite honest, I think it may have had an affect.

But let's keep in mind he's a very famous man. His lifestyle is difficult, with all those cameras everywhere. I'm sure he was just tired of it all. I mean, sure, life is great but it must have been tiring? Maybe he just thought it was his time to go.

Or maybe it was an accident? Most people with drug problems find it very easy to overdose (not that I've ever done drugs).

But in the end, it's not really our business to meddle into. It was a grave loss indeed, and I feel the joker misrepresents him as the final work of art he was in. But nonetheless, you'll see me in the movie theatre wearing my joker shirt and the first person to buy it when it comes out.

He was a great man, and whatever the reason he died, we will all miss him :)

<3 R.I.P. Heath Ledger

First off, Ledger did not die from an overdose of illegal narcotics, but a bad combination of sleeping pills; Second, I do not believe that Ledger would delve so deep into a role as to become suicidal (BTW, the Joker isn't suicidal--he only kills others!); Thirdly, and directly answering your question, I believe that the Joker role was the sole reason for Ledger's death! He was under a lot of stress and was taking at least five sleeping medications, including Ambien and Vicoden. He poured himself into his work to the extent that the stress made him an insomniac. Had he been in a less stressful role, he wouldn't have had trouble sleeping, wouldn't have been on so many medications, and would still be among us today!

first and for most i would love to say that i love the way he heath ledger takes on a role. and no it did not have anything to do with his death. i live a few blocks down and he was wonderful. he always had a seductive smile on. He had an overdose because he took aspirin and his anti-anxiety with a sleeping pill. he was know also to crush the pills because he had trouble swallowing pills since he was a kid.

I absolutely agree. He immersed himself too far into the darkness of the character. It's so dangerous for an actor who's at risk like he was to do something like that. The first time I saw the preview for the movie and saw his Joker, I was like "Yeah, that would have pushed him over the edge."

actually, it may be a cause, but still Heath wanted to portray The Joker as he described it as "disturbing". He was able to pull it off and had rave reviews. he was just preparing for the role.

that's how good actors do it.
`R.I.P. Heath

Yeah, my dad saw a news story saying that he became depressed from the acting it and just the overall role was so hard for him to portray.