Heath Ledger was “smug” about “Dark Knight,” says Andrew Garfield

Why so serious?

Heath Ledger had just finished playing the Joker in 2008's The Dark Knight when he teamed up with Andrew Garfield in The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus – and he knew the DC Comics film would be a success.

“He had just done 'Joker,' he had just finished 'The Dark Knight,' and he was so smug about it,” Garfield, 41, recalled in a recent interview on the Happy Sad Confused podcast. “I asked myself, 'How did that go?' and he was like, 'Yeah, it's really good.'”

Ledger had previously appeared in blockbuster hits such as “10 Things I Hate About You” (1999), “A Knight's Tale” (2001) and “Brokeback Mountain” (2005).

“I remember the way he was when the Empire magazine cover came out and he said, 'Oh, they used an Af King ST photo,'” Garfield shared with MTV's Josh Horowitz. “And I was like, 'Are you kidding, dude, that looks fucking incredible?' And he said, 'No, the pose is all wrong, it kind of looks like a conventional version of what an actor is… you'll see.' And yes, I saw it.”

The Christopher Nolan-directed drama also starred Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne/Batman, Aaron Eckhart, Michael Caine, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Gary Oldman, Morgan Freeman and Cillian Murphy.

The Dark Knight hit theaters in July 2008, six months after Ledger's tragic death. The Australian native was found dead in his Manhattan apartment on January 22, 2008 at the age of 28. His death was ruled an accidental drug overdose and attributed to a lethal mix of prescription drugs.

Ledger received several posthumous awards and won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. His family accepted the Oscar on his behalf and gave a moving and emotional speech at the ceremony.

“He was kind of a beacon, it was like a wild animal,” Garfield told Horowitz. “He was so free and so wild and kind of dangerous on set, in a way that was inspiring and spontaneous. He said before every take or before every take in every scene, 'Let's have some fun with this.'”

“I still have a lot of memorabilia about him,” he continued. “I remember the first day I met him and he was wearing these awesome Ray-Ban camouflage sunglasses and I was like, 'Oh hey, cool sunglasses.' And the next day they were like in my dressing room, he had just left them for me. He was just a very generous, beautiful and creative spirit.”

Ledger had a daughter Matilda, now 18, with his Brokeback Mountain co-star Michelle Williams. The 44-year-old “Dawson's Creek” alum recently announced that Matilda has started college.

In 2022, Williams spoke about how her friend and fellow actor Jeremy Strong stepped in to help her after Ledger's death.

“Jeremy was serious enough to carry the burden of a child's broken heart and sensitive enough to understand how to approach it through play, play and silliness,” she told Variety of the “Succession” alum.

“(Matilda) didn't grow up with her father, but she grew up with her Jeremy, and his ability to play changed us as if his life depended on it,” she added.

“We saw him work harder than anyone else and wait a long time for people to recognize it,” she noted of his success. “When he was celebrated like that, we all celebrated.”