Heath Ledger's sister debunked major misconception about his Joker role years after his death

The sister of Heath Ledger debunked rumours about her brother's role in The Dark Knight after his tragic death.

Ledger's death was ruled to have been as a result of accidental overdose of prescription medication, with The Dark Knight being released in 2008 after his death just months earlier.

His performance as the Joker in the Batman movie has been hailed as one of the best villain performances of all time - with him winning the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor in 2009, a year after his death.

The nature of the character sparked speculation at the time, however, with many assuming that playing the criminally insane Joker had somehow led to a deterioration of Ledger's mental health.

However, multiple people have since dismissed this idea, among them being Ledger's sister, Kate Ledger.

Heath Ledger died just months before The Dark Knight, in which he starred as the Joker, was released (Warner Brothers)

After a documentary about Ledger's life called I Am Heath Ledger was screened at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2017, Kate sat down with the press as well as filmmakers Derik Murray and Adrian Buitenhuis to discuss her brother's life and legacy.

'He wasn't depressed as the joker'

In the interview, she roundly dismissed claims that the role of the Joker had been a factor in the Australian actor's death.

“Everything that came to light about the Joker, we were all so confused,” she told Entertainment Weekly at the time, labelling claims that he was depressed as 'so not true'.

Kate Ledger insisted her brother was having fun when he was filming The Dark Knight (Simon Fergusson/Getty Images)

She added: “Honestly, it was the absolute opposite. He had an amazing sense of humor, and I guess maybe only his close family and friends really knew that, but he was having fun.

"He wasn’t depressed about the Joker."

Ledger himself also described the role as 'the most fun I’ve ever had, or probably ever will have, playing a character'.

This year sees The Dark Knight turn 18 years old, while director Christopher Nolan's latest venture, an adaptation of The Odyssey, is being released in Hollywood's latest outing to the world of Ancient Greek myths.

Ledger described the role as 'the most fun I’ve ever had, or probably ever will have, playing a character' (Jemal Countess/WireImage)

'Heath was bursting with creativity'

Paying tribute to Ledger in Newsweek shortly after his death, Nolan wrote: "Heath was bursting with creativity. It was in his every gesture. He once told me that he liked to wait between jobs until he was creatively hungry.

"Until he needed it again. He brought that attitude to our set every day."

He added: "There aren't many actors who can make you feel ashamed of how often you complain about doing the best job in the world. Heath was one of them."

While it's a movie which is strongly connected to Ledger's performance as the Joker, as well as his tragic death, The Dark Knight was not actually Ledger's final film.

Ledger won an Oscar for his role as the Joker in 2009, a year after his death (Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

This was the fantasy movie The Imaginarium of Dr Parnassus, directed by Monty Python alumnus Terry Gilliam, which follows a troupe of performers with a strange mirror through which people pass into a world created by their imagination, where they are presented with a choice.

Ledger took on the role of a mysterious trickster who joins the group, with the role also being played by Johnny Depp, Colin Farrell, and Jude Law after Ledger's death on 22 January 2008, part way through production.

The film's credits were also altered from the initial credit saying 'directed by Terry Gilliam' to 'a film from Heath Ledger and friends'.