THE BROTHERS GRIMM
Q&A with Heath Ledger		 Search all of phase9.tv






Movie Interview by Scott Orlin

Heath Ledger, the 26 year-old Perth native, is a bit tired. Lounging on the sofa in a posh Beverly Hills Hotel suite, one might presume the Australian actor had participated in a bit too much partying the night before. While part of the deduction is correct, it is not what one might think. It wasn’t alcohol that drew the fatigue; it was linguini.

“I had some friends over for dinner last night and I made the pasta from scratch,” he proudly reveals. “But it was a lot of work.”

Not only has the Italian cooking been taking its toll but so has his professional career. Although a teenage star in his home country, Ledger burst on the international big screen as the moody student with a reputed criminal past in 1999’s 10 THINGS I HATE ABOUT YOU. Declining numerous offers to exploit that angst, he sat jobless for over a year until his resiliency paid off when he was cast in rapid succession in THE PATRIOT, A KNIGHTS TALE and then MONSTERS BALL.

Pre-ordained as the next big star, the sudden rush of fame and scrutiny almost overshadowed his creative passion as he felt forced into films that compromised his artistic vision. But a short sabbatical and a thorough soul searching convinced him that it wasn’t his acting that was at fault.

“I was letting other people make my choices. I’m in control of my life, not anyone else in Hollywood and I knew I was only doing this because I was having fun. The day I stop having fun, I will walk away,” he notes. So carefully selecting where he would invest his time, Ledger soon set sail working with such acclaimed filmmakers as Ang Lee, Catherine Hardwicke and Terry Gilliam.

It was his work with Gilliam on THE BROTHERS GRIMM that brought Ledger out this summer morning to discuss not only his new found appreciation of fairy tales but his long sequestered desire to be in the hunt for the Holy Grail, at least in Monty Python’s world.


How familiar were you with the writings of the Brothers Grimm?

LEDGER: I was not that familiar. Obviously I had the fairy tales read to me by my mom when I was a kid but we did some research on who these people were. They were highly respected scholars of their time. In fact, Jacob went on to become a politician. But this was Terry’s vision of the movie and so all this was pointless to stick to the facts of who they were. That was not what the movie was going to be about. We were putting them in a fairy tale and so we had license to just play with their name.

Terry Gilliam seems to create new worlds in his movies, fairy tale or not.

LEDGER: I am such a huge fan of his work. I grew up watching Monty Python and wanting to be in Monty Python so therefore I was very familiar with his sense of humor and style of comedy. Being aware of that, I wanted to bring that sensibility to my character and to the film because I so desperately to be in one of those films as a kid so I would do anything I could, to present that in my character. People are quick to label him as mad or visually insane. I truly strongly believe that he is sane, just brutally honest. That is rare in Hollywood or today’s society to find someone that honest. Where people get confused is that he has so much passion and energy in creating and in his visual eye. It is an absolute treat to be in his film.

You mentioned about bringing that sensibility to your character. Initially, you were cast as Will, not Jacob. How did that switch come about?

LEDGER: It was actually Matt and I at the same time who had this similar idea. We both thought we would like to play the other character to play against type and so approached Terry. He thought about it and thought it would be a good idea. Directors in the past wouldn’t give Matt or me the opportunity to play something we hadn’t done before. I felt I had played Will and Matt felt he had played Jacob. I guess it was an obvious casting call. By switching it up, it made it more interesting for us. We had to study more and create more but it was worth it. Terry said he did the same on TWELVE MONKEYS with Brad Pitt and Bruce Willis. He switched their roles around and it made for a more interesting experience all around.

Jacob is a dreamer and a romantic. How closely do those attributes resemble you?

LEDGER: I am definitely a dreamer and a romantic. There was quite a lot of me in Jacob. When I met Terry in London, we sat and shared a drink at some hotel, and when I get nervous, my hands go everywhere (laugh). I lose control of them as I explain things with my hands. As my arms were flailing all around, he was going, “That’s great. Do it just like that.” He was giggling at my nervous energy. So for the first time instead of being asked to harness my energy, he wanted me to pop the lid off. I just let it fly.

Actors always talk about how they view other people and then use that to help base their character in reality. If that is the case, who did you observe and then utilize as Jacob?

LEDGER: If anyone, it would have been Terry. He is a believer. His energy on set as he creates fuels a lot of passion and that was something I tried to use as well in my character.

Fairy tales contain violence, magic, death and vengeance. Some complain about cartoon violence but look at what we were taught as kids.

LEDGER: Yeah. They are very dark. The movie kind of represents that nicely, although with humor. But we do have dark corners. Those fairy tales were dark. Mothers were always dying (laugh). I think the film is nicely balanced but it could be intense for an 8 year-old to the see the film. But Terry showed the film to 10 year-olds and they loved it.

Were you surprised at how much the Brothers Grimm had written? So much can be attributed to them as the film subtly hints at.

LEDGER: They wrote over 200 fairy tales. I really thoroughly enjoyed going over all their works. We had a book on set so we could cross reference their work and we could add little bits and pieces to the film when we saw fit. For example, I named my horse Piff Paff. I screamed during one scene that my horse, Piff Paff, was eating the girl. That was a name I saw in the book and just shouted it out. We tried to throw in a whole bunch of little things like that from the books.

Back in the 1800’s, these stories were passed down from generation to generation as the mythology of the day. Today we have our own superstitions as whom we are to be afraid of. Instead of the big bad wolf, we have terrorists.

LEDGER: I think the timing is quite perfect actually but I don’t think the average moviegoer will read that into the film. But I do understand what you are saying.

You filmed in Prague. Had Terry decided to shoot on a soundstage on Hollywood, one imagines that it would have been a different ambiance on set.

LEDGER: Filming in Prague felt like we were actually in a fairy tale because it is so gothic and medieval. The buildings were all bent out of shape and so it felt like we were in a Gilliam world anyway. The city itself actually lends itself to feeling like an intimate village space. You are neighbors to everyone in the crew and in the cast and so you re forced to a social gathering every evening. It was good in intent to creating friendships with everyone. If we shot in Hollywood, people would get in their cars and drive home and we would see each other the next day. In Prague, we would have dinner together because we were all removed from our homes and families and so it was more intimate on set.

Continued on page 2


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