Michael Caine was ‘terrified’ of Heath Ledger while filming Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight

Michael Caine has revealed that he was “terrified” of Heath Ledger’s portrayal of the Joker during the filming of The Dark Knight.

In his new memoir, Don’t Look Back, You’ll Trip Over: My Guide to Life (via NME), Caine, who played Alfred Pennyworth in Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy, described Ledger’s transformation as “chilling.”

“The smeared makeup, the weird hair, the strange voice. It was chilling,” Caine wrote about seeing Ledger in character for the first time.

He added, “Absolutely floored me the first time I saw him in action – I was terrified.”

Ledger’s performance, which earned him a posthumous Oscar for Best Supporting Actor, also pushed the rest of the cast to “raise our game,” Caine added.

Ledger died in January 2008 at the age of 28, just months before The Dark Knight hit cinemas in July of that year. His portrayal of the Joker is widely regarded as one of the greatest villain performances in cinematic history.

Reflecting on Ledger’s untimely death, Caine expressed sadness over what the young actor could have achieved.

“Heath was only 28 when he passed away. I hadn’t even made Zulu when I was that age. You think of what he might have gone on to achieve. It’s just heartbreaking,” Caine wrote.

He also recalled the difficulty of promoting The Dark Knight in the wake of Ledger’s passing.

He noted, “It made doing the publicity for The Dark Knight that summer much more intense, because all the journalists wanted to talk about his death.”

“It still makes me sad to think of it… [it’s] a performance for the ages.”

Caine reprised his role as Alfred in 2012’s The Dark Knight Rises, continuing his long-running collaboration with Nolan.

Their partnership began with Batman Begins and extended to films such as The Prestige, Inception, Interstellar, and Tenet.

Caine also lent his voice to Nolan’s Dunkirk.