Following Heath Ledger’s death in 2008, Michael Caine has spoken out about a time that still fills him with sadness.

Following his memorable portrayal as the Joker in The Dark Knight, the late actor inspired us all to cheer for the bad guys in movies.

On 22 January 2008, Ledger died at the age of 28 after an accidental overdose on prescription medications while The Dark Knight was in the final stages of production. The next year, he received a posthumous Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.

Caine, aged 92, played Alfred Pennyworth, Bruce Wayne’s (Christian Bale) devoted butler, in Christopher Nolan’s trilogy, which concluded in 2012 with The Dark Knight Rises.

The Italian Job actor discussed Ledger’s performance in his recently published memoir, Don’t Look Back, You’ll Trip Over: My Guide to Life.

“Absolutely floored me the first time I saw him in action—I was terrified,” claimed the man.

“We were all stunned, and it made conducting press for The Dark Knight that summer much more difficult because all the journalists wanted to speak about his death.

“It still makes me sad to think about it…” “This is a performance for the ages.” Despite his brief career, I believe he will be recognized as a superb performer.

“You think of what he might have gone on to achieve; it’s just heartbreaking.”

Andrew Garfield claims that Ledger foresaw the film’s popularity.

The Amazing Spider-Man star said that he had a brief meeting with Ledger shortly after finishing filming The Dark Knight.

The couple collaborated briefly on the 2009 film The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus.

In an interview with Josh Horowitz’s Happy Sad Confused podcast, he said, “He was very arrogant about it.

“I asked, ‘How did that go?”‘” And he said, ‘Yeah, it’s pretty good.

Garfield continued, “I remember when his Empire magazine cover came out, and he was like, ‘Oh, they used a f**king s**t shot.’

“And I was like, ‘Are you kidding me, guy? It looks f**king fantastic.’

“He said, ‘Nah, the pose is all wrong; it looks kind of like a conventional version of what an actor…you’ll see.'” “And yes, I did see.”

The Social Network actor also mentioned how the Joker star once gifted him a pair of Ray-Ban sunglasses since he admired them.

“He was just a very generous, beautiful, creative spirit,” he told me. “He was a beacon, like a wild animal.

“He was so loose, wild, and dangerous on set in a way that was both inspirational and spontaneous.

“He would say before every take, or one take every scene, ‘Let’s have some fun with this one.'”