Heath Ledger Quotes

1. I never took an acting class, so I've made all my mistakes on film.


2. I'm not good at future planning. I don't plan at all. I don't know what I'm doing tomorrow. I don't have a day planner and I don't have a diary. I completely live in the now, not in the past, not in the future.

3. I have never had great expectations of my performance or of a film. I try not to think about the outcome. If you look that far ahead, it sort of taints your choices as an actor. I try as hard as I can to believe that no one is ever going to see it and that it's not even a movie. Then you can allow yourself to bare more. Then, once a project is done, I tend to forget about it until it comes out.

4. I thought, I need to be more cautious about my choices - it reflects on who I am.

5. No amount of money changes what I do between "action" and "cut"…Before I got into the industry, I never imagined I'd have anywhere near the money I have now…I don't need any more. It's not that I don't want the money, it's just that I would have been really happy sitting on a beach or surfing every morning… I never had money, and I was very happy without it. When I die, my money's not gonna come with me. My movies will live on - for people to judge what I was as a person. I just want to stay curious. 

6. I only do this because I'm having fun. The day I stop having fun, I'll just walk away.

7. Having a child changes every aspect of your life - for the better, of course. The sacrifices are large, but what you get in return is even bigger than the sacrifices you make. I feel, in a sense, ready to die because you are living on in your child. Not literally, not ready to die - but you know, that sort of feeling in a profound way. 

8. I wasn't going to have fun doing a teen movie again.




9. I don't feel like I have anything to lose, so I don't really understand what I'm putting at risk.

10. I want to do theatre. I love theatre.

11. I never want to feel like I've achieved my goal. It's like Chinese farmers. They never admit that it's a good season. They feel like they'll be punished.



12. I'm happy without money.

13. If you make decisions based upon people's reactions or judgments then you make really boring choices.

14. I'm in control of my life, not anyone in Hollywood.

15. 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…just an absolute sociopath, a cold-blooded, mass-murdering clown…(being given) free rein (by director Christopher Nolan was) fun, because there are no real boundaries to what The Joker would say or do. Nothing intimidates him, and everything is a big joke.

16. I like to set up obstacles and defeat them.




17. I'm just not one of those naturally funny, relaxed actors who enjoy the spotlight and are so good at it.

18. It's kind of a rule of thumb for me to self-doubt going into any kind of project. I always think that I shouldn't be doing it and I don't know how to do it and I'm going to fail and that I fooled them. I always try to find a way out.

19. I'm kind of addicted to moving.

20. If you spend all day on horseback, and you hop off, you walk around like you still have a horse between your legs. And it affects your shoulders. They fall.

21. I've never figured out who "Heath Ledger" is on film: "This is what you expect when you hire me, and it will be recognizable."

22. I'm still a kid. I'm like six years old. But it's just a matter of wanting to get up, it's just a big journey. I felt like when I left home that I was on a journey, and I still am.

23. If you are just safe about the choices you make, you don't grow.

24. In order not to hold a frame with someone, you have to be intimidated by them.

25. (The Joker is a) psychopathic, mass murdering, schizophrenic clown with zero empathy... Last week I probably slept an average of two hours a night. I couldn't stop thinking. My body was exhausted, and my mind was still going.

26. (on fame and celebrity) All of this is so insignificant. In the grand scale of things, there have been so many before who have been in this position. I'm just another one. Life is so short. It's like we're already gone, really, in retrospect. 

27. In my opinion, New York City police officers are brave.

28. (I'm) an extremely private dude and all this is happening so damn quick. I really haven't had any time to rationalize it. But it's nothing that I'm going to let freak me out or take control of me or my thoughts or my real life.

29. Anyone that has a job that takes them away from home, I think, can understand the difficulties in maintaining consistency, not only with your family and those you love but with your friends.






30. I love acting. Oh, God, I love it. But all this fame and all this bullshit attention. I'm not supernatural. I've done nothing extremely special to deserve the position. It happens every couple of years, and it's happened to hundreds of people before me. 

31. In a way, I was spoon-fed, if you will, a career. It was fully manufactured by a studio that believed that they could put me on their posters and turn me into their bottle of Coca-Cola, their product.


32. When anything is blocking my head or there's worry in my life, I just go sit on Mars or something and look back here at Earth. All you can see is this tiny speck. You don't see the fear. You don't see the pain. You don't see thought. It's just one solid speck. Then nothing really matters. It just doesn't. 

33. From 18 to 22, I was alone, living in L.A. with a bunch of friends, partying.




34. It can be a little distressing to have to overintellectualize yourself.

35. Had I listened to my agent, I'd be running around in tights, climbing buildings and stuff.

36. I am not a public speaker and never will be.







37. I actually hate comic book movies, like f... hate them, they just bore me shitless and they're just dumb. But I thought what Chris Nolan did with Batman was actually really good, really well directed, and Christian Bale was really great in it.  
   

38. In this industry, interest in you comes in waves, it's so tidal. And so I don't really want to jump on the first wave that comes along.

39. It's rare that there's a role that requires an Australian accent.

40. I didn't want to raise my child in Hollywood.

41. My life is together, both professionally and socially.

42. I do keep pre-occupied.

43. You know when you see the preachers down South? And they grab a believer and they go: "Bwoom! I touch you with the hand of God!" And they believe so strongly, they're on the ground shaking and spitting. And f... sake, that's the power of belief. Now, I don't believe in Jesus, but I believe in my performance. And if you can understand that the power of belief is one of the great tools of our time and that a lot of acting comes from it, you can do anything. 

44. It's odd, that's why I don't like telling people I played field hockey. It's real big in Australia for guys. But I say I played in America, and everybody goes: "Oh, you girl!"


45. I apologize for my terrible interview skills.

46. I'm the worst auditioner, really, really bad. I mean, you're being judged and I'm just so aware of it that it consumes me. I can't relax, I'm tied in knots, so the voice is very taut and tense. You're so aware that you're acting 'cause you're sitting across from this lady with a piece of paper who's going, I'm. Going. To. Shoot. You. If. You. Don't. Blah, blah, blah, in this emotionless voice. It's foul. I hate it.

47. There's nothing like working with your mates - it's the way it should be, as far as I'm concerned.

48. I don't have a technique. I've never been a believer in having one set technique on how to act. There are no rules and there is no rulebook. At the end of the day, it all comes down to my instincts. That's the one thing that guides me through every decision professionally. Socially, also. That's my technique. Yeah, you read through the script 100 times. I guess I have little characteristics about myself. Sometimes, most often than not, once we start shooting I won't look at the script at all until we finished shooting. It's kind of like it's been imprinted in my head during rehearsals. You just let it go. 

49. I feel like I'm wasting time if I repeat myself.

50. When I first started acting, I was just crap.

51. I don't know, as long as I get to evolve and grow as an actor and as a person, that's the stuff I'm after.

52. (on paparazzi) Most of the time you don't even know they're there. Now, that's the scary thing. It's really strange and invading, but I'm still working it all out. I try to not let it bother me. And if I want to swim naked in my pool, I'm still going to do it. I certainly don't want to feel that I have to change everything in my life that I do to cater to them. I just won't let it happen. 

53. The reason that you dance and sing is to make the audience feel like they're dancing and singing. As long as you're having fun with it and giving it 100 percent, they're gonna feel that.


54. I felt like my career was out of my hands.

55. It's like anything in life, visualizing the old man you're going to become: As long as you have a clear picture of that - the life you want to lead - eventually you'll probably get there. 

56. (on working with Naomi Watts and Ned Kelly) I just like interesting people. When we worked together on Ned Kelly, Naomi and I definitely had a connection, but it probably happened off screen rather than on, because when you're working there's nothing sexy about 50 people standing around staring at you.

57. When I started to watch some of the films I'd done, I realized I was doing movies that I might not actually want to see.

58. I feel like I've never been in a film that people have liked before.

59. When I'm not acting, I do like to take a year off at a time, at least if I can, just in order to keep acting exciting - otherwise I get bored very quickly.

60. I generally don't think most situations can be labeled as black or white.

61. You know, I'm not in a hurry, and everybody else in Hollywood - particularly agents and managers - they're all in a hurry.

62. I have a lot of great distractions outside of acting.

63. You learn more about yourself through your child, I guess.




64. I like to do something I fear.

65. (on his daughter Matilda) Matilda is adorable, and beautifully observant and wise. Michelle and I love her so much. Becoming a father exceeds all my expectations. It's the most remarkable experience I've ever had - it's marvelous.

66. I had a year where I sat around on my butt and declined generous offers to do more teen movies and more of the same characters as the one from "10 Things". I was literally living off Ramen noodles and water just because I was sticking to my guns. It was very hard because they offer you so much money. It's so easy to say: "Ah f... it, at least I can live and eat."


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