A Knight's Tale: Old Set Photos Of Heath Ledger Shared By Co-Star

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Actor Rufus Sewell has shared some old set photos of the late Heath Ledger from 2001's A Knight's Tale. The medieval action-comedy starred Ledger and Sewell, as well as Alan Tudyk, Shannyn Sossamon, Mark Addy, and Paul Bettany. Ledger played squire William Thatcher who fakes his identity as a knight in order to compete in a jousting contest and win the heart of a noblewoman. The film was a modest hit that showcased Ledger's natural charisma, leading to a number of notable roles in his short career, including Brokeback Mountain and The Dark Knight.

 

Ledger took on the role of Thatcher in A Knight's Tale after appearing in 2000's The Patriot alongside fellow Australian Mel Gibson. That movie, alongside his work in 10 Things I Hate About You, would put him on the road to stardom. Knight's Tale writer/director Brian Helgeland cast the actor simply from seeing dailies from The Patriot before it was released (the director had previously worked with Gibson on Payback in 1999). Sewell played the villain in A Knight's Tale, a competing jouster named Count Adhemar.

 

In celebration of what would have been Ledger's 43rd birthday, Sewell took to Twitter and posted some candid on-set images of his co-star from their days working on the movie. Sewell noted that he had found the photos after thinking "they were lost forever" in the post. In a follow up post, he shared an image of Ledger atop a horse, captioning it with "The pout," noting Ledger's expression in the shot. Take a look at the photos below:

 

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Ledger died of a drug overdose in 2008 shortly after finishing work on Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight and during the production of Terry Gilliam's The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus. The Dark Knight was released nearly six months after Ledger's death and would earn him a posthumous Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his portrayal of Joker. Ledger had previously been nominated for a Best Actor award for his work in Ang Lee's Brokeback Mountain.

The tragic loss of Ledger is one that continues to be felt by his loved ones and fans around the world. Ledger left an indelible mark in his short, but memorable career, particularly with his performance as the Joker in The Dark Knight. However, the actor has plenty of gems scattered throughout his resume that are often overlooked, one of them being A Knight's Tale, which still holds up as a fun, inspired, and rousing crowd-pleaser. Seeing the actor in old photos is like experiencing his talent all over again and drives home the loss of his tremendous onscreen spirit.

 

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