This Touching Christian Bale's Tribute to Heath Ledger Will Make You Cry

When discussing his time starring in Christopher Nolan 's Batman trilogy with GQ, Christian Bale reflected on working with Heath Ledger and highly praised the performance of the iconic actor. What a treat for fans!

His words could easily bring tears to your eyes if Heath Ledger's Joker has changed your perception of the Batman universe and comic book villains as he did for millions of fans around the world.

Christian Bale even confessed that he was a bit worried over Ledger's extraordinary performance because of a conversation he and Christopher Nolan had had before the start of filming. Nolan was sure that there was an issue with Batman – the superhero had always looked more insipid than his enemies. With Batman having some villain characteristics himself, Nolan wanted Bale to portray a complex character who would never let the spotlight be stolen away from him.

"I was watching him going, 'This is absolutely fantastic. Are we in trouble here?'" Bale said. "When [director Christopher Nolan] and I first sat down we said, 'You know the problem with Batman is that the villains are always more interesting. Batman is actually very close to being a villain himself, so let's never let him become dull by comparison. Unfortunately, I was sitting there going, 'I feel a little bit dull by comparison,' because Heath is just killing this. But I'm so proud of that film, I love it. The Dark Knight is absolutely extraordinary, and it was such a pleasure to have got to work with Heath."

According to Bale, this job has become much more challenging with Heath Ledger on the set because the late actor was "just killing this," the opinion millions of fans share.

So what makes Heath Ledger's Joker the most beloved Batman villain of all time?

There is an unpopular opinion that the high praise Heath Ledger received for his Joker role as the Joker was largely built on the fact that the actor died shortly after making the film. He lost his life in January 2008, 7 months before The Dark Knight's release. But the majority of fans don't agree with this idea. Firstly, because this tragedy did not seem to affect the reaction to The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, Ledger's actual last role, which received an average rating. Secondly, fans can't get over how realistic and powerful Ledger's performance was in The Dark Knight.

Fans agree that Ledger's Joker was a 21-century take on a comic villain. We have never seen such a realistic villain before. This Joker lost a lot of the cartoonishness most Batman villains have. The energy Ledger brought to every scene is simply visible. Not many actors have been able to steal the spotlight so spectacularly.

Add what we know about how Heath Ledger prepared for the role, and you will agree that it was one of the best acting the world has ever seen. Only the fact that Ledger locked himself in a room for a month and kept a diary of what the Joker would have found funny is bound to make you wanna go watch The Dark Knight again.