Surprisingly enough, Heath Ledger was not a method actor before his role as the Joker. Not like Daniel Day-Lewis, for instance, who's probably the most famous method actor in Hollywood. Heath didn’t develop family issues or walk a beat with cops for his role in Monster’s Ball. He didn’t extensively learn war history for his part in The Patriot. But for The Dark Knight, he often stayed in character, frightening a lot of the other actors and staff members. He would go out of character too, so he wasn’t fully method acting, but for the most part this was the deepest and darkest he ever delved into a role.Heath Ledger was a great actor who passed away far too soon. He left an indelible print on the movie industry with his role as the Joker in The Dark Knight. Superhero villains (and villains in general) were never seen the same again. He brought a darkness and craziness that was completely unexpected, and was enough to earn him a posthumous Oscar, which is very rare.

When you think of all the villains that have followed in his footsteps, or preceded him, it’s hard to find one that was played with such mastery. Heath Ledger’s final performance as the Clown Prince of Crime was the greatest of his career, and has gone down as one of the greatest in cinematic history.

Jack Nicholson, Jared Leto, Mark Hamill, and anyone else who’s played the Joker have gone to some very strange places for the character. None were as strange or dark as Heath Ledger’s, though. The weirdness that Heath brought to the character was defined by his mannerisms, his look, his voice, and his actions. The Australian actor went above the call of duty to give us an exploration of the Joker that has never been replicated, before or after.

Simply put, Heath Ledger was scary as the Joker. We’ll probably never have another like him, so he’s definitely deserving of all the respect and accolades he’s gotten for his part. It’s just a shame we lost him so soon—but even that tragedy can be attributed to his role. Here are 15 weird things we all tend to ignore or forget about Heath Ledger’s Joker.

15 HE PERFECTED HIS VOICE AND LAUGH BY PRACTICING WITH VENTRILOQUIST DUMMIES

Another instantly recognizable feature of the Joker’s is his voice and laugh. Mark Hamill’s voice acting is probably the most famous. Jack Nicholson also put his own spin on things. Heath knew the laugh was important, but the way the Joker spoke had to be perfect. He sought out a voice coach to learn how to speak with deep inflections, followed by high ones. Heath changes his vocal pitches throughout the movie. To do this, he studied how ventriloquist dummies work. He wanted to come across as a ventriloquist, using his body as the dummy. In doing this, he would “mouth” his dialogue, but be able to add inflections to his voice before the sounds came out.

14 HIS FACE PAINT WAS AN AMALGAM OF DIFFERENT SOURCES

To create his own spin on the Joker’s face paint, Heath was inspired by The Crow and pro-wrestler Sting. But, he didn’t want the face paint to be overdone—he wanted to “paint” the Joker as realistically as possible. He felt the Joker wouldn’t apply a lot of makeup before a big crime, so he came up with a new look on his own. He went by a Dollar Store and bought cheap makeup, the kind you might see in a local play or street performance. It was grease-style paint, which would wear off after sweating (especially under hot lights). That’s why his face paint is often smeared or running throughout the movie, which added to the realistic, real-life feel of it.

13 HE WAS AS CRAZY OFF-CAMERA AS HE WAS ON-CAMERA

Even though he came across as a bit insane on-camera, Heath Ledger’s co-stars loved working with him. He was known for being a key unifier on set each day, even when he wasn’t filming that day. He would often have days off to rest or recoup, but he decided to show up to set every single day the movie was filmed. And he didn’t just show up, but he arrived in full costume, to make his character a consistent presence on-set. He would act his part too, often mumbling to himself and interacting with the other actors. Sometimes he would goof off, as co-stars said he was always good-natured and would sometimes show up riding his skateboard around the set.

12 HEATH LEDGER HAD A HORRIBLE BOOK TO HELP HIM GET INTO CHARACTER

One unique aspect of Heath Ledger’s Joker was the commitment he displayed when taking the role. Co-stars have brought up how scary he could be at times and that comes from his sheer dedication to the part. But Heath wasn’t in character all the time, as mentioned above. He often joked with people on-set, but he knew he couldn’t be normal for very long. To force himself back into his character, he made a book, or scrapbook, for himself, that he would look at. It was filled with horrible stories and disturbing drawings. After he shot a scene, he would write “bye bye” in the book, to take himself out of the Joker’s psyche.

11 HEATH LEDGER LOCKED HIMSELF IN A MOTEL FOR 43 DAYS

At the time, this was one of the craziest ideas people had heard of in Hollywood, even more so than losing or putting on copious amounts of weight for a role. Before filming, Heath Ledger locked himself in a motel room for 43 days, not allowing himself to leave. Lost in his own thoughts and ideas, he wanted the effect that prisoners feel from isolation, which often drives them crazy. Heath realized he could tap into that “prisoner isolation” and drive himself mad, which would lend itself perfectly for this role. He managed to last almost a month and a half, against the advisement of psychiatrists and psychologists.

10 HIS SCARS WERE NOT ORIGINALLY IN THE SCREENPLAY OR COMICS

One of the most popular lines that Heath repeats in The Dark Knight is, “Wanna know how I got these scars?” typically before he does some crazy deed. Director Christopher Nolan did not originally have the scars in his screenplay and neither did any version of the DC comics. The scars and permanent “smile” they created were completely unique and made this Joker memorable in its own way. To make audiences aware of them, Heath would put his tongue to the sides of his mouth, often, like people do with a cut or sore. Viewers likely ignored it, but were constantly, subtly reminded of Heath’s nuanced brilliance.

9 HE REALLY HAD CHRISTIAN BALE BEAT HIM UP

During the infamous interrogation scene between Christian Bale’s Batman and Heath Ledger’s Joker, we again see how the Joker is a bit of a genius (and crazy). He manages to push Batman past his breaking point, so he abandons his morals and is ready to take him out. To make the scene more real, Heath thought it would be best to have Christian actually beat him up. Needless to say, Christopher Nolan did not have to do too many takes for this scene. Originally, Christian was against the idea, but he respected Heath enough to do it. Not all of it was real, but when he punched Heath and slammed him on the table? That’s as real as it gets.

8 JACK NICHOLSON WARNED HIM ABOUT PLAYING THE JOKER

The legendary Jack Nicholson was the first to play a dark version of the Joker, in Tim Burton’s 1989 Batman. Heath came to him asking for advice, and Jack told him: “The role of being The Joker will haunt you, the role is so dark, that you probably won’t be able to sleep, but enjoy the role as the Clown Prince of Crime, because it’s nothing but good fun (NYDailyNews.com)." While Heath was amazing in the role, it’s unfortunate that Jack’s words didn’t stick. Heath would pass away before editing of the film was finished, due to medication he took for depression, anxiety, and pain, which many believe came as a direct result of him playing the Joker.

7 HE SHOCKED OTHER ACTORS ON SET WITH HIS APPEARANCE ALONE

During the Bruce Wayne Party scene, Joker shows up and learns of the connection between Rachel (Maggie Gyllenhaal) and Batman, later using that against him. For this scene, Heath had stayed away from his co-stars on set, so he could make a surprise appearance on-screen, in full costume. It’s the first scene that Maggie and Alfred (Michael Caine) see the Joker, and it was utterly unsettling for the actors. Maggie Gyllenhaal was so scared she could hardly even look at Heath, which is portrayed masterfully in the film. Michael Caine was also so shocked at his appearance that the veteran actor forgot his lines.

6 HEATH LEDGER WAS THE YOUNGEST ACTOR TO EVER PLAY THE JOKER

Not only was Heath Ledger the youngest actor to ever play the Joker (he was 27 at the time, and would turn 28 during filming), but he was also one of the youngest actors to ever play a supervillain. In time, his record would be broken. Many movies have come out since The Dark Knight that featured people under 30 in major antagonist roles, but Heath Ledger was the first to bend that envelope. He showed Hollywood that if an actor is good for a part, he or she should not be limited by their age. Up until The Dark Knight, under-30 actors just typically weren’t cast in main, villainous roles.

5 HEATH LEDGER WAS PART DIRECTOR DURING THE FILM

He wasn’t a director in the typical sense—that esteemed title belonged to Christopher Nolan. But he did come up with a scene and direct a part in the movie. The random videos that were seen all over the televisions in Gotham were actually directed by him. In the first video, the Joker beats up a fake Batman. Nolan was impressed with Heath’s direction, and allowed him to shoot and direct the remaining videos, with full control over the second tape, which would show reporter Mike Engel reading a statement from the Joker. Everything you saw in that second tape was Heath Ledger’s idea or at least the idea of the crazy Joker he’d created.

4 SMARTER THAN ANY OF HIS OPPONENTS

The Joker was crazy, sure, but people forget he was also a bit of a genius. He consistently outsmarts Batman by turning the Bat against his own ways. Heath’s Joker could get inside anyone’s head. This was intentional: Heath Ledger wanted his Joker to be a true genius. One perfect scene exemplifying this is when he forces Batman to choose between saving two people he loves. Or when Harvey Dent wants to take out the Joker, the Joker gives him a gun and forces him to choose. However, if you look closely, you’ll see the trigger hammer was already jammed. The Joker was one step ahead, as always, in case things didn’t go his way.

3 LEDGER WAS NOT A METHOD ACTOR BEFORE THIS ROLE

Surprisingly enough, Heath Ledger was not a method actor before his role as the Joker. Not like Daniel Day-Lewis, for instance, who's probably the most famous method actor in Hollywood. Heath didn’t develop family issues or walk a beat with cops for his role in Monster’s Ball. He didn’t extensively learn war history for his part in The Patriot. But for The Dark Knight, he often stayed in character, frightening a lot of the other actors and staff members. He would go out of character too, so he wasn’t fully method acting, but for the most part this was the deepest and darkest he ever delved into a role.

2 HIS MANNERISMS WERE INFLUENCED BY CLOCKWORK ORANGE’S MALCOLM MCDOWELL

Heath Ledger did a ton of research before embarking on playing such an iconic character. His look, voice, laugh, and even face paint were all influenced by different people, and then molded into his own style. One of the most important characteristics of Heath Ledger’s Joker was his overall mannerisms. He played a darker Joker than anyone else had before. According to Business Insider, to spark that darkness, he was drawn to the classic dystopian crime film, Clockwork Orange, and the main character, Alex DeLarge, played by Malcolm McDowell. Heath Ledger adopted many of Malcolm’s non-verbal gestures and body movements into his version of the Joker.

1 HIS LOOK WAS INFLUENCED BY SID VICIOUS

The Joker is a maniacal, crazy character, with a vicious personality and an iconic look. When we consider strong personalities and recognizable faces, where better to look than famous rock stars? Consider Slash (Guns ‘n’ Roses) with his top hat, sunglasses, and curly black hair, or Angus Young (AC/DC) with his school-boy outfit. Well, Heath Ledger took a different route than following those distinguished musicians: He was drawn to Sid Vicious, the singer for one of the first punk bands in the world. From his sneer, to his unkempt hair, to his completely rock ‘n’ roll lifestyle, Sid had the perfect look for Heath to emulate in his own version of the Joker.