Did playing The Joker contribute to Heath Ledger's death? Family clarifies rumo...

Heath Ledger’s sisters say playing The Joker in The Dark Knight didn’t contribute to the actor’s death.

Many believe that his obsession to get to the role of The Joker took a dark toll on him, and led to his death. He died at the age of 28 on January 22, 2008 from an accidental mixture of prescription drugs.

Ledger’s sisters Kate Ledger and Ashleigh Bell talked about the rumour after attending the premiere of I Am Heath Ledger at Tribeca Film Festival on April 23, reports thedailybeast.com.

“He wasn’t depressed about The Joker. Honestly it was the absolute opposite. He had an amazing sense of humour, and I guess only his close family and friends really knew that. But he was having fun,” Kate said.

They also said that they were shocked by reports circulating around the time of his death.

“It was coming out that he was depressed and it was taking a toll, and we were going, ‘What?’” Ashleigh said.

Ashleigh added: “I don’t know if it was the case that we wanted to clear it up, but as soon as he had the movie everything that came into light about The Joker, we were all so confused.”

Heath received the Best Supporting Actor trophy at the 81st Academy Awards posthumously for his role of The Joker.