“Bye bye”: The Last Haunting Entry Heath Ledger Made into His ‘The Dark Knight’ Diary Before His Death Reveals the Animal That May Have Inspired His Terrifying Joker Laugh

From fandomwire.com 

SUMMARY

• Heath Ledger's 'The Dark Knight' diary resurfaces, revealing his last entry and the animal that inspired his iconic Joker laugh
• Heath Ledger prepared extensively for his role of Joker in The Dark Knight, keeping a detailed diary containing pictures, text, and more.
• Among the pages of Ledger's diary is a picture of a hyena, which many believe inspired the Joker's iconic, terrifying laugh.
• Fans have reacted emotionally to the resurfaced diary pages, noting changes in Ledger's handwriting and expressing sadness over the diary's public exposure.
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• In the vast landscape of Hollywood, few have left an impact on the ever-changing nature of the film industry like Heath Ledger. The brilliant actor left the world in 2008, just months before the world could witness the best performance of his life: Joker in Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight. Still hailed as one of the best Joker portrayals of all time, the actor continues to be remembered for his talents, wits, and performances even after all this time.
• Recently, a few pages of his ‘The Dark Knight‘ diary resurfaced on the internet, revealing what his last entry was and how he came up with his iconic Joker laugh.

  Heath Ledger’s Last Diary Entry and the Animal that Inspired Joker

  

  Heath Ledger as Joker in The Dark Knight | Warner Bros.

  Heath Ledger died due to an accidental overdose at the age of 28 (see THR) when he was at the prime of his career. While many initially hailed the actor’s death as suicide due to his role as the diabolical, complex, and devilish Joker in The Dark Knight, which certainly made a significant impact on his mental health (see People), it was later ruled ‘accidental’.

• Having passed away just months before the world could witness his impeccable near-perfect, if not perfect performance, Ledger continues to be missed even after decades since the movie was released. In an interview with Empire, months before his death, the actor had revealed the extreme steps he had taken to prepare for the role.

  I sat around in a hotel room in London for about a month, locked myself away, formed a little diary and experimented with voices — it was important to try to find a somewhat iconic voice and laugh. I ended up landing more in the realm of a psychopath — someone with very little to no conscience towards his acts.

  The said diary has resurfaced on the internet, which was first revealed in Too Young To Die, a documentary made on the actor’s life. Featured in one of the pages of the diary is a picture of a hyena, which fans and others widely believe, inspired his iconic Joker laugh.

  The images and text featured in the diary are definitely not for the faint of heart, for some of them feature harrowing details such as his last diary entry, with only the words— Bye Bye— scribbled on the whole page.

• Fans React to Heath Ledger’s The Dark Knight Diary

  

  A page from Heath Ledger’s diary via Heath Ledger: Too Young To Die | Broadview TV

  In the documentary, Heath Ledger: Too Young To Die, Heath Ledger’s father Kim revealed the diary that the actor used to keep while filming and prepping for his role as Joker. From ideas to scribbled notes to references and more, the diary also contains pictures and more. Instead of Ledger, the diary looks more like it was written by Batman’s greatest nemesis, whom the Australian actor rightly described as an absolute sociopath, a cold-blooded, mass-murdering clown in his interview with Empire.

• After some of the pictures of the diary’s images went viral on Instagram, this is how fans reacted:

  His handwriting changes, you can tell it’s obsession. -@naitikk_sxinda

  Damn not the bye bye in the last page. -karlscfni

  So sad. This should have never been made public. Method acting can be dangerous. Is it really acting at that point? -@formertattedteach

  Bro was so much into acting that he stopped acting. -@onebignose

  Even his hand writing changed from the first to the last entry. That role physiologically changed him. -@jess26127

  As fans continue to lament the actor’s death, there is no denying that his portrayal of Joker extended beyond accolades. Even now, his iconic portrayal continues to influence roles and movies across the film industry, leaving an indelible mark on both superhero movies and the broader cinematic landscape.

• https://fandomwire.com/bye-bye-the-last-haunting-entry-heath-ledger-made-into-his-the-dark-knight-diary-before-his-death-reveals-the-animal-that-may-have-inspired-his-terrifying-joker-laugh/

Sundance Diaries: How ‘outlier’ filmmaker C.J. Obasi became Nigeria’s new Oscar hopeful

From latimes.com

COTONOU, Benin —  As part of our yearlong series on Sundance filmmakers, The Independents, we asked participants to keep a diary of their working life and submit an accompanying self-portrait. Today’s diary is from C.J. Obasi (“Mami Wata”), who reflects on his movie’s selection as Nigeria’s submission for the international film category at the 2024 Oscars.

Sunday, 1 October

I wake up and say a prayer and meditate. I always try not to jump out of bed too soon after I wake up. I take some time to ponder the day, ponder myself and my place in the world. Then I jump out of bed.

Next thing I do is go to my home office and try to get some writing done. I’m working on two feature film scripts simultaneously. Which is completely new to me. I’ve always worked on one script after another, but I’ve found that I’m overflowing with so much inspiration these days that I can’t help myself. The two scripts are very different. One is titled “La Pyramide: A Celebration of Dark Bodies” and the other is titled “Mortuary Man,” a romance drama with a touch of the supernatural, maybe. “La Pyramide” is an extension of what I did with “Mami Wata” as far as pushing aesthetic boundaries, but on a much larger canvas, and with colour. “Mortuary Man” is really for my wife. She’s the one that got me to do it. She always said I never write romance. “Mortuary Man” is my answer to that request.

I managed to write a few pages of “La Pyramide” and I’m taking a break. I hate to push it. Better few quality pages than many mediocre ones. Especially when you’re working on the second draft. I just came back from Brazil for the Latin American premiere of “Mami Wata,” but I stayed longer so I can get a feel of Salvador, where a third of “La Pyramide” is set. The second draft of “La Pyramide” is looking and feeling stronger, now that I have a stronger perspective of Salvador.

Last night was busy and long, working with the Nigerian Oscar Submission Committee (NOSC) to submit “Mami Wata” materials and assets to the academy. It’s been quite dramatic trying to get all the materials uploaded with the deadline just around the corner.

Anyways, we’re done with that, and now we wait for the academy’s response.

Today, I plan to go see an acquaintance who’s visiting Cotonou from Paris. He’s leaving tonight, so I have to try to make this happen. It’s relatively easy to go anywhere in Cotonou, which is where I live now. Cotonou, Benin, is vastly different from Lagos, Nigeria. But to me, this is a good thing. A great thing actually.

This week is going to be a busy one for me. The weeks ahead, to be fair. My passport should be arriving with my U.K. visa today or tomorrow. And I have to finalize plans at home for my travel to Paris this week. In the coming weeks and months, I’ll be in France, Switzerland, Germany, Tunisia, England, Scotland and back to France before I call it a year and return home to Cotonou. Staying away from family, especially my son, is tough. Luckily, my partner, who is my producer, understands and goes with me, as well a lot of trips herself. Film is our passion and livelihood.

Monday, 2 October

Still writing “La Pyramide: A Celebration of Dark Bodies.” Wrote a few more pages today. Closer to finishing second draft. I feel good about it more every day.

                                                                                 Self-portrait of C.J. Obasi. 

(C.J. Obasi)

Friday, 6 October

I arrive in Paris. I’m one of the invited creatives for Creation Forum — an initiative of the president of France to find ways for French and African creatives in arts, media and technology to collaborate. The program will last until Sunday, and there’s a lot of great folks from all over the continent to meet, which rarely ever happens. Always a good time to meet good people.

Monday, 9 October

In my AirBnB in Bry-sur-Marne, a suburb on the outskirts of Paris. I turned in my second draft for “La Pyramide” in to my collaborators. Back to working on my other script, “Mortuary Man.” I’m on Page 54, which means I’m more than halfway to the finish, if it goes the way I hope.

Sunday, 15 October

On this night, “Mami Wata” is officially announced as Nigeria’s entry for the International Features Category of the 2024 Oscars. My phone’s been buzzing all night, all through the morning. It feels great and a significant achievement in the history of Nigerian cinema. You have to remember, I’m not the famous filmmaker, or even the celebrated “Nollywooder,” on everyone’s lips, so to have an outlier’s film chosen by the committee of 14 is unprecedented and symbolic to the new possibilities on the horizon for Nigerian cinema. This I’m excited about more than anything else.

Tuesday 17 October

Had a lunch meeting in Paris with some amazing ladies working in film and art. Then went to an academy screening of Alexander Payne’s new film “The Holdovers.” I liked it. It’s no “Nebraska,” but I enjoyed it a lot.

Friday, 20 October

“Mami Wata” is released theatrically in 10 French-speaking African countries. So far, the film has either played, is playing or is about to play theatrically in Nigeria, the U.S. and Canada, 10 Francophone African countries, the United Kingdom and Ireland, Germany and Austria, with more territories to come. For us, the theatrical run of the film was and has always been the priority. It really is a movie that is meant to be experienced on the big screen, and we want to give that to audiences as much as possible.

https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2023-10-31/sundance-film-festival-the-independents-cj-obasi-diary