Late star Heath Ledger gave the world one of its most iconic and terrifying villains with his phenomenal performance as the Joker in ‘The Dark Knight.’ With his dishevelled hair and menacing grin, fans can still hear the actor saying “Let’s put a smile on that face.” From his smeared makeup look to his mannerisms, the actor left no stone unturned to create a villain who will go down in history. In his memoir, Michael Caine revealed being terrified of Ledger’s iteration of the DC villain. Caine played the role of Alfred Pennyworth in ‘The Dark Knight’ trilogy.

In his new memoir, ‘Don’t Look Back, You’ll Trip Over: My Guide to Life,’ Michael Caine wrote about his reaction to Heath Ledger’s Joker. Moreover, he also penned about the actor’s unfortunate demise at a young age. “The smeared makeup, the weird hair, the strange voice. It was chilling. Absolutely floored me the first time I saw him in action – I was terrified.” Caine’s first reaction mimics every viewer’s reaction to Ledger’s chilling performance. Notably, Ledger’s gripping performance earned him a posthumous Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.

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Caine reflected that Ledger’s performance pushed everyone to up their game on the set.  “It forced the entire cast to raise our game.” Talking about the talented star’s death, the veteran actor wrote, “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.”

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Moreover, the actor also wrote about how the press interviews got emotionally difficult for the cast members. The majority of the questions were about Ledger’s death rather than the film. “We were all terribly shocked, and it made doing the publicity for The Dark Knight that summer much more intense because all the journalists wanted to talk about his death.” He continued, “It still makes me sad to think of it… [it’s] a performance for the ages. Even though his career was cut short so soon, he’ll be remembered as a great actor, I believe.”