|
Why Heath Ledger is such a daredevil
The 23-year-old hero of The Four Feathers is drawn to roles that go against the grain
|
Arthur J Pais
The 23-year-old actor who is one of the sexiest men in Hollywood did not need much persuasion to take up The Four Feathers. "There was enough drama and action in the movie," Heath Ledger, who is instantly drawn to roles that go against the grain, says.
"And," he adds, "an opportunity to interpret a fascinating character."
Then there was Shekhar Kapur who got a wonderful performance from fellow Aussie Cate Blanchett in Elizabeth which won her an Oscar nomination.
Ledger plays a young army official who cannot understand why the British should fight in Sudan and quits the army on the eve of a key mission in the African nation in the late 19th century. Drubbed a coward by his closest friends and his fiance, Harry Feversham seems resigned to a life of ignominy when he hears that his friends could die in Sudan as the war has turned against the British.
Against many odds, he smuggles himself into Sudan to save his friends. In the process, he regains his honour.
On page, Ledger's role did not look as rebellious and complex as in the movie, he says. But discussions with Kapur helped him refine the part of Harry Feversham. "Now you see Harry as a hero for refusing to go to war against his own convictions," Ledger says.
"On the other hand, to have gone to war just because his father, friends and fiance expected him to do so would have been act of cowardice."
Despite the action drill and intense battle scenes, he says Kapur helped him focus on what his role really was about. "It is the story of self-discovery, self-acceptance and being true to oneself," he explains, "and having the courage to learn from one's mistakes."
Kapur says Harry Feversham is essentially "a man facing his greatest fear --- self-doubt." He was looking for an actor who needed to be handsome and at the same time looked vulnerable. There was another key consideration: "He had to be an actor who could be dignified even in doubt."
The outer and inner journeys transform Harry Feversham from boyhood to manhood, Kapur explained, "and eventfully take him to true wisdom." When Kapur tested Ledger, the actor surprised him over and over again. "Someone as young as him," Kapur says, "had so much wisdom. He knew right from the beginning what the film was all about."
Ledger, who played a small but key part as a suicidal son of a racist police officer in Monster's Ball and who was also seen as an overzealous corporal in The Patriot opposite Mel Gibson, says he found The Four Feathers script "absolutely brilliant."
"Taking part in the film was quite a journey for me," he explains. "Although it was hard --- spiritually, emotionally, physically --- it was also a lot of fun, getting out there and jumping on horses and beating up people."
His passion and daredevilry scared many including Kapur, particularly when he jumped on a galloping horse during a key sequence. He was not required to do so but he wanted to make the scene even more dramatic. Kapur remembers telling the young star: "Don't get killed."
"Guess what he said," Kapur asks, chuckling. Ledger quoted a line from the script: "I will die if it is God's will."
Kapur, who has worked with some of the best up and coming artists, including Oscar-nominated Kate Hudson (who plays Harry Feversham's fiance in the new movie), admires Ledger for several reasons. "Like any good project, this movie too let us find something of ourselves," Kapur says. "Heath brought a lot of wisdom to the film. He is incredibly giving and he is willing to bare himself
so that the film and we benefit."
Kapur says it was fun discussing the lines with Ledger. "He is an Australian who plays a British character," Kapur notes. "When we discussed the dialogue, I would be reading the lines with my thick Indian accent and he would be working on kicking out any trace of the Australian accent. We would then look at us and burst out laughing."
DON'T MISS!
The Four Feathers coverage on Rediff.com
The Four Feathers at Toronto