By Tim Nasson
Beverly Hills — Though “A Knight’s Tale” is only the third film 21-year-old Perth, Australia, native Heath Ledger has starred in, it seems that he’s everywhere lately and is following in the heels of some other very successful Aussie movie heroes gone American. “It’s not as amazing as it seems,” says Ledger when I asked him how he explains the sudden rise in popularity of Australian and New Zealand actors in America. “You have Academy Award winners Russell Crowe, Mel Gibson, Geoffrey Rush and nominee Cate Blanchett and maybe a handful of other Australian or New Zealander actors who have made it in Hollywood and immediately everyone in America begins to say, `What is in the water down there that is producing so many great movie stars?’ Well, yes, those stars are fantastic but there are only a few who have made it so successfully from there in relation to all the great actors that continent has.”
Most may remember Ledger as the oldest son of Mel Gibson from last summer’s hit civil war, period piece, “The Patriot.” Much has changed in the intervening year for Ledger, who has gone from supporting actor to top billing in two years and three movies. His first film, “10 Things I Hate About You” was an ensemble retelling of Shakespeare’s “The Taming of the Shrew.”
With “A Knight’s Tale,” Ledger keeps his tradition of playing in period pieces. In it he is William Thatcher, a fearless, sometimes foolhardy, 14th century man who decides to impersonate a knight — a dangerous endeavor in a time when commoners were not expected to talk to nobles without being spoken to first, much less masquerade as one. Coming from nowhere, he becomes a hero and knightly superstar — all set to the sounds of thunderous hoof beats, the rising roar of the crowd, and most remarkably, an infusion of popular music. And I am not speaking of popular 14th-century music, either. (Think Queen, Elvis Presley, David Bowie and AC/DC set to the theme of jousting tournaments.)
Loosely based on “The Canterbury Tales,” Academy Award-winning screenwriter Brian Helgeland (“L.A. Confidential”) has crafted “A Knight’s Tale” into a medieval classic for the new millennium.
Filmed primarily in Prague, “A Knight’s Tale” came in at a budget of less than $40 million — not much money by today’s Hollywood standards, where movies such as the soon to be released “Pearl Harbor” required over $200 million of Disney money.
Without a huge special effects budget or inventory, the characters became the movie’s centerpiece — which sits well with Ledger. “Playing William allowed me to present a smorgasbord of emotions and looks,” says Ledger. “I start off with dreadlocks and being a pauper and end up looking like I do on the poster for the film and becoming a real knight, all the while looking for my father who sort of abandoned me, try to find true love and fight for my life.”
This past winter Ledger was named ShoWest’s Star of Tomorrow award. Others who have been bestowed with this film industry honor have included Matt Damon, Drew Barrymore and Jodie Foster, but don’t think Ledger’s impressed by the attention. “I don’t make much of the award,” notes Ledger. “ShoWest and their awards are all for the studios.”
Walking into the suite at The Four Seasons in Beverly Hills, Ledger puffed away on a cigarette — and then another and still another in a short amount of time.
“I think it was contingent on everyone in the movie to smoke,” he laughs. “Every actor in the film smoked, even the ones from America.”
Since Ledger was on a horse for much of his latest film, he explains how in one scene he almost lost a body part. “Yeah. In one jousting scene I was getting ready to ride along the long beam. For some reason the horse took off before I expected him to and my leg was almost torn off. The horse went too close to the beam and actually crashed into it and broke it. If I had not lifted my leg at the exact moment that I did, I would only have one leg now.”
“Thanks to the director, [Brian Helgeland], we got to Prague two months early. He told the execs at Columbia Pictures that all the actors needed to get there early to learn how to ride. The thing is, though, we did hardly any training. We drank every night and got to know each other very well and became something of a family,” he says.
Speaking about rides, Ledger went on, “This ride, my career thus far, is surreal. It’s scary and exciting at the same time. I had only made two movies up until `A Knight’s Tale,’ and since then I have done three more. I have worked six days a week for 18 straight months.”
Making movies is quite a stretch from Ledger’s initial stint in acting. “Doing television in Australia was a lot easier. There was no traveling involved,” he chuckles. “I actually played the first gay teen on Australian television when I was 16,” he says proudly. “That was my first big role; the role that got me noticed in my country. I moved from Perth to Sydney to do that television show.”
Heath Ledger Interview with Tim Nasson for A Knight’s Tale.
