When The Dark Knight was released in the U.S. on July 18, 2008, it was immediately clear that not only had director Christopher Nolan elevated the superhero movie genre to something approaching high art, but that an iconic take on a classic character had also emerged from the endeavor: Heath Ledger’s dark, scary and more realistic take on Batman’s age-old nemesis, the Joker.
On the occasion of The Dark Knight’s 10th anniversary, we spoke with make-up artist John Caglione, Jr., who was nominated for an Academy Award for his work on The Dark Knight along with Conor O’Sullivan. Caglione had previously won an Oscar for his makeup on Dick Tracy back in 1991, so he came into The Dark Knight with some very relevant experience in the realm of creating grotesqueries. But when it came to birthing a new version of the Joker, the makeup artist quickly realized that he would be crossing into some new and uncomfortable terrain.
Source: IGN.com The Dark Knight: How Heath Ledger’s Joker Was Born