Ledger meditated for a month before accepting The Joker role

Aussie star Heath Ledger reveals that he meditated for a month before he decided to play the role of The Joker in the new Batman movie.

London, Dec 4 : Aussie star Heath Ledger reveals that he meditated for a month before he decided to play the role of The Joker in the new Batman movie.

Ledger has signed on to star as Batman's nemesis in 'The Dark Knight', and insists getting into character took a lot of work.

"It's a combination of reading all the comic books I could that were relevant to the script and then just closing my eyes and meditating on it," the Daily Snack quoted him, as saying.

"I sat around in my London hotel room for about a month, locked myself away, formed a little diary and experimented with voices - it was important to try to find a somewhat iconic voice and laugh."

The actor was also appreciative that director Chris Nolan gave him free reign to portray the villain as he wanted.

"I ended up landing more in the realm of a psychopath - someone with almost no conscience towards his acts," he revealed.

"He's just an absolute sociopath, a cold-blooded, mass-murdering clown, and Chris has given me free rein. Which is fun, because there are no real boundaries to what The Joker would say or do. Nothing intimidates him, and everything is a big joke."

The character of The Joker was made famous by Jack Nicholson in the original 80s Batman movie, directed by Tim Burton.

ANI