Heath Ledger's performance vs Tim Curry's performance

[blazecat]

In your opinion, who do you think did a better job portraying an evil clown and why?

In Stephen King's It, Tim Curry portrayed the character Pennywise. A horrifying, demonic, balloon wielding monster that eats kids and hides in a sewer.

In the Dark Knight, Heath Ledger portrayed the Joker. A twisted, deranged, malicious maniac who just blows things up for fun.

[Gonzales]

His name is Heath Ledger.

[blazecat]

Oops, i'm sorry. I know how to spell his name. That was a major typo.

[TheTerror]

In your opinion, who do you think did a better job portraying an evil clown and why?

In Stephen King's It, Tim Curry portrayed the character Pennywise. A horrifying, demonic, balloon wielding monster that eats kids and hides in a sewer.

In the Dark Knight, Heather Ledger portrayed the Joker. A twisted, deranged, malicious maniac who just blows things up for fun.

Heather, lol, maybe he was making fun of him?

[Gonzales]

Anyway, I think Ledger's Joker was better by far.

[TheTerror]

Anyway, I think Ledger's Joker was better by far.

I liked them both, but since I am a Joker fan I preferred Ledger, but I am not one of these fanboys who run around thinking Ledger is god because of his performance, it was good and got the job done. Plain and simple.

[DisneyBoy]

Tim Curry scared the pants off of me, whereas Heather just acted like some stupid punk kid stumbling out of a club at 3am on a Saturday, looking to compensate for smaller genitals.

But everyone loves Heather. All we hear about these days is "retire the Joker, Heather played him best!" and "Nicholson can't hold a candle to Heather!" and "Who is going to accept the Oscar award for Heather? Heather's wife? Heather's daughter? Heather's father? Heather's director?"

Heather, Heather, Heather!




;):D

[GrayGhost]

Tim Curry, since as far as I know he was actually acting instead of method acting.

[defunctzombie]

Curry wins in the menacing department. Sure, Ledger freaked everyone out, but he had to use bombs. All Curry needed was some teeth and a little light. ;)

Although, if you ask me I liked Curry's Satan more than his Pennywise.

[TheTerror]

Tim Curry, since as far as I know he was actually acting instead of method acting.

HAHAHAHA, indeed. Ledger probably was not even wearing face paint, lol.

[Ragebot]

Tim Curry, since as far as I know he was actually acting instead of method acting.

Method acting is a form of acting.

[Wonderwall]

I like Heather(:p) just a bit better as he seemed to get more screen time. Tim though is so creepy, I actually think he's creepier without make up.

[GrayGhost]

Method acting is a form of acting.

I didn't say it wasn't. It is, however, one for less talented people who cannot act on the spot. :)

[Fone Bone]

Tough choice. I'd say if we were comparing performances on who did the best ACTING job Ledger would win hands down. Whereas if we judged by who was scariest it's all about Tim Curry.

[TheTerror]

Whoops, I misread it, I thought he said ledger was doing "meth" acting, so I agreed. I guess he was doing "method" acting, but he could have been doing both, lol.

[BonyT]

Well, one thing is that a significant part of the scare-magic of clown characters isn't dependent on who's in the role -- As the baby from the esurance commercials reminded us, you really shouldn't underestimate the inherent creepiness factor.

As for Curry, while I did see at least part of his Pennywise performance on TV at some point, I really just don't remember it much, so I guess I can't comment. But from what I know of Curry's work, I can't imagine that he didn't bring it off effectively.

And I'd like to add this: I think vital elements of context are too often missed when folks evaluate TDK. A very real influence in the crafting of the film flowed (consciously and/or unconsciously to whatever degree) from the biblical Book of Job; TDK's Joker is in fact Satan from the book of Job -- they're the same character, with identical motivations -- and that does add something ... larger to the character, to the dark dimensions of his terror. (But as such, that added power really flows from the Joker as written in TDK, not per se from Ledger's performance.) And I'll just throw out an appeal for the broader lesson here, for anyone with ears to hear: There is NOTHING that lies more fundamentally at the roots of Western civilization than the Bible. For that reason alone, whether you're a Christian or not, you need to be well acquainted with it -- it's simply impossible to be literate otherwise. As Dr. Jones once observed to the government agents, "Didn't you guys ever go to Sunday School?" ;)

[Michael24]

Although I don't really see the point in comparing the two, in terms of talent on the part of the actor and the menace of the character, I'll go with Tim Curry and his Pennywise.

I honestly never thought very much of Heath Ledger as an actor and continue to do so, even though nowadays it seems everybody is expected to worship him as some kind of "acting God" just because he died tragically at a young age. :shrug:

[MM54]

But everyone loves Heather. All we hear about these days is "retire the Joker, Heather played him best!" and "Nicholson can't hold a candle to Heather!" and "Who is going to accept the Oscar award for Heather? Heather's wife? Heather's daughter? Heather's father? Heather's director?"

Heather, Heather, Heather!



Sigged. xD

And myself am going to have to go with Ledger. Granted, I like "The Dark Knight" a LOT more as a film than "It" (in fact... I always did dislike it. As in "It" it.) But, I honestly felt there was a lot more to Ledger's portrayal of the Joker than there was in the character of Pennywise in general. Tim Curry was the best choice to play Pennywise, no doubt... but he's not a deep character by any stretch of the imagination, and I can't imagine it took a lot of work to develop the character, cause honestly I just see him as just another horror killer.

[Hobbes829]

I have a hard time disassociating Tim Curry from Dr. Frankenferter. The evil clown scared me, until i realized who it was.

The art of acting is making people believe what you say or what you are doing. Heath was no where to be found. He was the joker. When he said that he killed people with knives because guns are too quick, it didn't come off as a performance. Tim Curry's great but i've never been lost in a performance of his no matter how good it was.

[GrayGhost]

Whoops, I misread it, I thought he said ledger was doing "meth" acting, so I agreed. I guess he was doing "method" acting, but he could have been doing both, lol.

LOL! So true.

[BonyT]

I honestly never thought very much of Heath Ledger as an actor and continue to do so, even though nowadays it seems everybody is expected to worship him as some kind of "acting God" just because he died tragically at a young age. :shrug:You know, I think I'm in kind of a similar place regarding Ledger in some ways. Truth is, I'm not sure that I had even seen Ledger in anything before TDK -- didn't see Brokeback or Grimm. Don't get me wrong though, I thought Heath did a fantastic job with the Joker role; but as I posted above, I think a lot of what makes the character great comes from how he was written in TDK, from the influences that shaped this version of Joker, more so than just Ledger's performance. That's why I suggested once a while back that if Nolan wanted the Joker back for a cameo in the next film, I didn't see any problem with another actor filling that role. As I recall, I was pretty much all alone in that opinion in that thread at the time, but I still feel that way -- the power of Nolan's Joker is ultimately less dependent on Ledger's performance than on the Joker character as created in Nolan's Batman universe, and if he feels he needs a Joker scene in a future film, I don't see that as any kind of slight to Heath, and I see no issue with it.

[Hobbes829]

You know, I think I'm in kind of a similar place regarding Ledger in some ways. Truth is, I'm not sure that I had even seen Ledger in anything before TDK -- didn't see Brokeback or Grimm. Don't get me wrong though, I thought Heath did a fantastic job with the Joker role; but as I posted above, I think a lot of what makes the character great comes from how he was written in TDK, from the influences that shaped this version of Joker, more so than just Ledger's performance. That's why I suggested once a while back that if Nolan wanted the Joker back for a cameo in the next film, I didn't see any problem with another actor filling that role. As I recall, I was pretty much all alone in that opinion in that thread at the time, but I still feel that way -- the power of Nolan's Joker is ultimately less dependent on Ledger's performance than on the Joker character as created in Nolan's Batman universe, and if he feels he needs a Joker scene in a future film, I don't see that as any kind of slight to Heath, and I see no issue with it.
Writing is important, but you need someone that can believably deliver the words on the page or they fall flat and feel diesngenuous.

[BonyT]

Writing is important, but you need someone that can believably deliver the words on the page or they fall flat and feel diesngenuous.Very true. But my point is that, more so than most characters being created today, so much of this Joker's impact and scope as a character owes to the powerful and timeless influences of which he is an echo (assuming that the audience is literate enough to hear those echoes) -- and that crucial element of the character's power would still be there regardless of who's in the role, as long as he does a credible job; it's not dependent on a transcendent performance from Ledger.

[Hobbes829]

Very true. But my point is that, more so than most characters being created today, so much of this Joker's impact and scope as a character owes to the powerful and timeless influences of which he is an echo (assuming that the audience is literate enough to hear those echoes) -- and that crucial element of the character's power would still be there regardless of who's in the role, as long as he does a credible job; it's not dependent on a transcendent performance from Ledger.
Ledger had an uphill battle. Not only was fighting a bunch of fanboys that balked at him being cast before a frame of footage had been shot or seen. Also, he was following the footsteps of a great performance by Jack Nichelson!

[KITT1982]

tim curry hands down he is a god!! :evil:

[Mad Mod 49]

Heath Ledger, mainly because "The Dark Knight" was actually a good movie (though I'm sure more people on this thread will say otherwise, and that's fine as long as that's their true, unbiased opinion. I'm sick of the people who liked the film but now "hate it" just because of the stupid fanboys overhyping it. Fan idiocity and rabid hype should NEVER alter one's judgement on a product, period. It should be judged on it's merits and it's merits alone.)

Tim Curry was awesome as Pennywise, but he was about the only redeeming feature in that film. I mean seriously, "IT" is an excellent book, but it's not the kind that can be made successfully into a TV movie. It deserves a bigger budget. I mean, It's true spider-like form at the end of the movie was just plain laughable, as opposed to the ultimate horror it's supposed to be.

[Hanshotfirst113]

You know, I think I'm in kind of a similar place regarding Ledger in some ways. Truth is, I'm not sure that I had even seen Ledger in anything before TDK -- didn't see Brokeback or Grimm. Don't get me wrong though, I thought Heath did a fantastic job with the Joker role; but as I posted above, I think a lot of what makes the character great comes from how he was written in TDK, from the influences that shaped this version of Joker, more so than just Ledger's performance. That's why I suggested once a while back that if Nolan wanted the Joker back for a cameo in the next film, I didn't see any problem with another actor filling that role. As I recall, I was pretty much all alone in that opinion in that thread at the time, but I still feel that way -- the power of Nolan's Joker is ultimately less dependent on Ledger's performance than on the Joker character as created in Nolan's Batman universe, and if he feels he needs a Joker scene in a future film, I don't see that as any kind of slight to Heath, and I see no issue with it.

Leder was excellent in Brokeback.

[Knight]

Tough choice. I'd say if we were comparing performances on who did the best ACTING job Ledger would win hands down. Whereas if we judged by who was scariest it's all about Tim Curry.

I agree with this completly. Ledger was great as the Joker but I remember Currys clown Pennywise just being very scary.

[GregX]

I didn't say it wasn't. It is, however, one for less talented people who cannot act on the spot. :)

That is so totally not true.

[DisneyBoy]

Curry wins. Pennywise - with the vintage special effects and all - was horrifying. Ledger is creepy, but I think kids can feel okay about him at the end of the day.

[Mad Mod 49]

Ledger is creepy, but I think kids can feel okay about him at the end of the day.

Uuuh, this coming from the person who once kept on complaining about how Ledger's Joker would disturb kids?

But yeah, Pennywise was horrifying. Again, why the hell didn't they just cut out the spider-form entirely if they couldn't make it measure up to Curry?