Michael Caine is getting candid on the late Heath Ledger.
The English actor, 92, released his newest memoir, “Don’t Look Back, You’ll Trip Over: My Guide to Life,” in the US on Tuesday and spoke about his time with the late star.
Caine worked with Ledger on the second film in Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy — 2008’s “The Dark Knight” — and remembers him as a “lovely guy, very gentle and unassuming.”
But when it came to transforming into the role of the Joker, Caine recalled that Ledger could turn it on for the cameras.
“It was chilling. Absolutely floored me the first time I saw him in action — I was terrified!” he writes in the memoir.
Caine notes that Ledger would go on to be remembered as a “great actor.” The Hollywood star died in New York City in January 2008 from an accidental overdose at age 28.
“You think of what he might have gone on to achieve, it’s just heartbreaking. We were all terribly shocked, and it made doing the publicity for ‘The Dark Knight’ that summer much more intense, because all the journalists wanted to talk about his death,” he pens.
“I was so pleased when he was awarded the posthumous Oscar, because it must have been at least some sort of comfort for his poor family,” continues Caine. “The truth is, we’d all hoped he would win an Academy Award and thought he should, even while we were still filming the movie.”
Christian Bale starred as Batman in the trilogy directed by Christopher Nolan. The franchise began in 2005 with “Batman Begins,” and went on with 2008’s “The Dark Knight” and 2012’s “The Dark Knight Rises.”
Caine portrayed Alfred Pennyworth, Bruce Wayne’s (Batman) confidant in the film.
Bale, 51, reflected on working with Ledger as noted in author Joseph McCabe’s 2017 book, “100 Things Batman Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die.”
“Our first scene was in an interrogation room together, and I saw that he’s a helluva actor who’s completely committed to it and totally gets the tone that Chris is trying to create with this,” he told McCabe during an interview around the time of the film’s release. “We’re not going for actors revealing their enjoyment of playing a wacky caricature. We’re treating this as serious drama.”
“You go into character and you stay in the character. I love that. I find that so ridiculous that I love it, and I take that very seriously. Heath was definitely embracing that. When he was in the makeup and the garb he was in character the whole time; and when he took it off he was absolutely fantastic company to be around.”
After Ledger’s death, a toxicology report revealed he died from a fatal mix of prescription drugs.
The actor had welcomed daughter Matilda, now 19, with ex-girlfriend Michelle Williams three years before his passing.
Williams, 44, and Ledger began dating in 2005 after meeting on the set of “Brokeback Mountain.” The pair had their daughter in October of that year, but split up for good in October 2007.
“Every time I really miss him and wonder where he’s gone, I just look at her,” the “Dawson’s Creek” alum told Vogue in 2009. “I can talk about grief, because that’s mine, about single parenting, about trying to balance work and kids. But what I don’t have to talk about is what happened between Heath and me in our relationship.”
For Williams, the Ang Lee-directed drama was an “unrepeatable moment in time.”
“A very charmed time in my life. I was in love,” she went on. “I was in a movie I was proud to be a part of and with a beautiful, brand new baby. Everything was good in that moment.”
In January, Ledger’s “10 Things I Hate About You” co-star, Julia Stiles, also opened up about the joy of working with the Australian native in the 1999 film.
“He was such a force,” said the actress while on “Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen.”
“He walked into a room and just lit it up and had so much energy and passion,” she added. “It’s really sad that he’s gone.”
