Shekhar Kapur, who directed Heath Ledger in the 2002 epic “The Four Feathers,” has paid fulsome tribute to the late actor as the 15th anniversary of his death approaches this weekend.
Ledger had a brief but bright career as a leading man, scoring Oscar and BAFTA best actor nominations for Ang Lee’s “Brokeback Mountain” (2005). He was found dead on Jan. 22, 2008. He was 28. He went on to win both the Oscar and BAFTA for supporting actor posthumously for playing the Joker in Christopher Nolan’s “The Dark Knight.”
At the time of Ledger’s death, Kapur was working with him on a satire on the media titled “The Nine O’Clock War” and was one of the last people to speak with the actor.
In “The Four Feathers,” based on the 1902 novel by A.E.W. Mason, Ledger plays Faversham, a British army officer accused of cowardice who finds redemption in military action in the Sudan.
The filmmaker said that Ledger sent him initial sketches of the Joker character, but once filming began, he got wholly into character.
“My message to fans is, a few of us are lucky to have come across him and even luckier to have worked with him,” Kapur said.
Kapur’s new film “What’s Love Got to Do with It?,” starring Lily James and Emma Thompson, begins its global rollout at the end of January.
