TV & Film News

Was Heath Ledger's Joker born from this Tom Waits interview?

By Jeff VanVickle August 5, 2012

This classic Australian interview with Tom Waits has been making the rounds on the net, but not simply because the musician was evidently stoned out of his gourd. The video is being revisited because with Waits' fidgety body language, croaky voice, and odd cadence, he bares an eerie resemblance to the late Heath Ledger's astonishing interpretation of The Joker in The Dark Knight.

Could Ledger have actually drawn inspiration from this 1979 interview? The actor didn't specifically list Waits as an influence, and we really doubt that he would have stumbled across this video and thought, "By Jove, I think I've got it!" But then again, it really is one heck of a coincidence, and Ledger was known for his eclectic tastes.

After The Dark Knight Rises, are we all missing The Joker so much that we're seeing him in the most unlikely of places, or is there something to this theory? Judge for yourself by checking out the clip below (Waits enters at 1:25).

TAGS: acting, interview, Joker, musician, singer, television,

Tom Waits 1979 interview