While he played more than one part in his short career, Heath Ledger will forever be remembered for his portrayal of The Joker in The Dark Knight. The film was both a critical and commercial success, with the majority of plaudits focussing on Ledger's manic and dark character - which launched him to a new level of superstardom. However, this all happened posthumously, as Ledger died in January 2008, 10 years ago today and 6 months before the film was released. A few months before his untimely death, the actor had opened up about the effects that the role of playing that Joker had on him both physically and mentally. Ledger claimed that he was constantly tired due to a lack of sleep as his mind was constantly thinking. [[instagramwidget||https://www.instagram.com/p/yKeD4SBI7z/?hl=en&taken-by=heathcliffandrewledger]] He had just wrapped up filming for the Bob Dylan biopic, I'm Not There, and was medicating his insomnia with various sedatives. Speaking about the difficulties he was having at the time of filming, Ledger told The Times: “Last week I probably slept an average of two hours a night. I couldn’t stop thinking. My body was exhausted and my mind was still going.” The actor's death was ruled as accidental at the time, with the toxicology report showing traces of oxycodone, hydrocodone, diazepam, temazepam, alprazolam and doxylamine in his system. Of course, due to the popularity and status of Heath Ledger, there have been various documentaries made about him and the final months before his death. One of the most recognised of these was 'Too Young To Die' which looked at the lives of celebrities who had died at a young age. In the episode regarding Ledger, the German filmmakers came across the diary that he had made when creating the character of The Joker. The diary was shared by Heath's dad, Kim, and reveals the extent of the actor's commitment to the character and includes manic musings and images to help Heath understand the disposition of The Joker. The diary also contained several of the inspirations behind the character, including clowns, hyenas, comic strips and Alex from A Clockwork Orange. Kim can be seen flicking through the diary while confirming that his son put himself into voluntary exile in order to enter the mindset of The Joker. "He pretty well locked himself up in a hotel room for weeks. He galvanised the upcoming character. That was typical of Heath. He would do that. He liked to dive into his characters, but this time he really took it up a notch," Kim said in the documentary. Chillingly, one of the pages of the diary has the words "BYE BYE" written across it in large letters. The crew behind The Dark Knight were in the process of editing the film when Ledger died. Speaking about the tragic death, director Christopher Nolan said: "It was tremendously emotional, right when he passed, having to go back in and look at him every day." "But the truth is, I feel very lucky to have something productive to do, to have a performance that he was very, very proud of, and that he had entrusted to me to finish." While plenty of people say that the psyche of The Joker was partly to blame for the death of the actor, co-star Christian Bale disputes this claim, recalling Heath saying: "[The Joker was] the most fun I've ever had, or probably ever will have, playing a character." Whether The Joker did or didn't play a part in the untimely death of Heath Ledger, the world lost an incredible talent on 22 January 2008.

Mads Mikkelsen has slammed the techniques of method actors like Lady Gaga and Jared Leto, calling the technique "bulls***."

In an interview for Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore, the Danish actor - who is replacing Johnny Depp as the franchise's villain Gellert Grindelwald - opened up about how he prepares for roles.

Method acting is an extreme technique where actors stay in character for the duration of a project - regardless of whether they are on camera or not.

In recent months, Lady Gaga has made headlines for employing the approach while filming House of Gucci, where she reportedly spoke with a thick Italian accent for months and purportedly needed a psychiatric nurse on set.

Meanwhile, this week Jared Leto's method acting put him in the spotlight after reports arose that he had to be given a wheelchair on the set of Morbius because he refused to stop using his character's crutches when taking bathroom breaks.

Now, during a recent interview with GQ, Mikkelsen made it very clear what he thought of the technique, saying: "It's bulls***."

"Preparation, you can take into insanity," he continued, adding: "What if it’s a s**t film – what do you think you achieved? Am I impressed that you didn’t drop character? You should have dropped it from the beginning! How do you prepare for a serial killer? You gonna spend two years checking it out?"

Mikkelsen is no stranger to undergoing rigorous preparation for a role. He learned to ride horses and sword fight for his first English-language blockbuster King Arthur (2004), and even learned to speak French for Age of Uprising (2013).

However, he draws the line at going method, saying: "It’s just pretentious. Daniel Day-Lewis is a great actor. But it’s got nothing to do with [his method acting]."

That said, the Casino Royale star said he would love to work alongside a method actor - if only so he could mess with them. He joked: "I would have the time of my life, just breaking down the character constantly. 'I’m having a cigarette? This is from 2020, it’s not from 1870 – can you live with it?'"

Later in the interview, Mikkelsen went on to blame the media for their awed response to actors never breaking character, implying that it resulted in performers winning undeserved accolades.

"The media goes, 'Oh my god, he took it so seriously, therefore he must be fantastic; let’s give him an award.' Then that’s the talk, and everybody knows about it, and it becomes a thing," he said.

Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore hits US cinemas on April 15.

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For many people, Heath Ledger's portrayal of The Joker in The Dark Knight will go down in history as one of the greatest character portrayals there has ever been. The role is largely attributed to Ledger's extreme method acting technique - with it being widely reported that he would lock himself away for days on end in order to fully immerse himself in the psyche of The Joker.

However, for some people, Ledger's career is hard to view objectively due to the fact that he died at the age of 28. The argument is that if Ledger hadn't died shortly after finishing his portrayal of The Joker, would people hold it in the same regard? Yes, he played the character expertly, but, due to the fact that he passed shortly before the film was released, the role already has an air of mythology around it - it was already his character.

Someone who certainly agreed with this line of thought was David Thomson. In a think-piece for The Guardian, Thomson argues that while Ledger may have been put on a posthumous pedestal when Batman was released, his career may have spiralled if he had not died. He wrote:

"Ledger in his early 20s was a young hunk, a nice-looking fellow with some pride and panache. He is watchable in The Patriot, Monster’s Ball and Casanova, and helpless in many other things.

"His very success as the Joker almost certainly means he would have been offered loads of money to spin off a Joker franchise. And one day soon, that might have seemed like a prison as grim as Mission: Impossible."

Of course, everyone is entitled to their opinion on the actor and not everyone will agree. On actor who certainly holds Ledger in extremely high-regard, is Daniel Day-Lewis.

Lewis, who is one of the most decorated actors of all time, described Ledger as the "perfect actor." During a speech at The Screen Actors Guild awards in 2009, Lewis took the time to praise the other actors in his category - particularly Heath Ledger.

"The thing that gave me a sense of wonderment, of renewal, the thing that teased me with the question 'How is such a thing possible?' and then 'Dare you go back into the arena one more time?' with longing and self-doubt jostling in the balance - it's always been the work of other actors.

"There are many actors in this room tonight, including my fellow nominees who've given me that regeneration. Heath Ledger gave it to me. In Monster's Ball, that character that he created seemed to be almost an unformed being retreating from themselves, retreating from his father, from his life, even retreating from us - and yet we wanted to follow him and yet were scared to follow him, almost.

[[youtubewidget||https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-r5DlfrtZRM]]

"He was just unique and then of course in Brokeback Mountain he was unique, he was perfect. That scene in the trailer at the end of the film is as moving as anything I think I've ever seen and I'd like to dedicate this to Heath Ledger."

It's a testament to the regard other actors held Ledger in that, during his own acceptance speech, Day-Lewis felt the need to dedicate his award to the late actor.

It seems remarkable that it has been 10 years since Ledger passed and, given that today is his birthday, it only seems right to remind ourselves of what a wonderful talent he was. While it's true that his career could've spiraled, it could've also gone the other way. Who knows what he would've gone on to achieve?

Stranger Things star David Harbour has slammed method acting, saying that the controversial technique is "dangerous" and "silly".

The 47-year-old-actor - who's best known for playing Police Chief Jim Hopper in the hit Netflix show Stranger Things - gave his views on the acting style during a recent interview with GQ.

Method acting refers to when performers stay in character for extended periods on and off set. In recent years, the technique has been popularized by actors like Daniel Day-Lewis, Jared Leto, and Christian Bale - all of which gained notoriety as tales of their off-screen antics come to light.

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But Harbour made it clear that he wasn't a fan of the style. During his chat with the magazine, the Black Widow star explained that he was trained in classical American method acting - but that he eventually decided against the technique.

"When I was younger — it’s so embarrassing — but I remember playing that famous Scottish king and being like, 'I’m gonna kill a cat' or something. 'I’m gonna go murder something to know what it feels like to murder'," Harbour said.

"I didn’t actually do it, obviously. Not only is that stuff silly, it’s dangerous, and it actually doesn’t produce good work," he added.

Harbour went on to speak more specifically about three-time Oscar winner Day-Lewis - one of the most famous proponents of the style.

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"He’s an extraordinary actor who I’m captivated and fascinated by [but] when he explains his process it sounds like nonsense to me," he admitted.

While many actors are committed to the method technique, there is a growing number who are speaking out against it. Harbour's comments come just a few months after Mads Mikkelsen blasted it as "bulls***".

Gary Mitchell, GMP Media / Alamy

"It's bulls***," he told GQ back in April. "But preparation, you can take into insanity. What if it's a s*** film, what do you think you achieved? Am I impressed that you didn't drop character? You should have dropped it from the beginning. How do you prepare for a serial killer? You gonna spend two years checking it out?"

However, there are still many performers who are determined that method acting will take their performance to the next level. Recently, Jared Leto made headlines after reports arose that he had to be given a wheelchair on the set of Morbius because he refused to stop using his character's crutches when taking bathroom breaks.

Elvis star Austin Butler also found himself in the spotlight when people noticed that he was continuing to use the rock'n'roll star's accent during interviews.

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