Heath Ledger initially turned down Batman role: Nolan

Tragic actor Heath Ledger initially did not want to be part of director Christopher Nolan's Batman franchise.

The star first met with Nolan when the director was interested in casting him as the titular superhero in 2005 blockbuster Batman Begins, but the filmmaker said that Ledger was not at all interested, reported Daily Star.

"He was quite gracious about it, but he said, 'I would never take a part in a superhero film'," Nolan said.

Heath Ledger as the Joker in Dark Knight: Getty Images

The 28-year-old changed his mind upon seeing the final project and later asked to play supervillain The Joker in The Dark Knight.

Nolan said, "Heath spent months and months (preparing); we cast him even before the script was written so he had a very long time to obsess about it, think about what he was going to do, to really figure it out.

"It was a very scary moment, because... if he didn't like (the screenplay), it would have been extremely uncomfortable.

But he (liked it). He sighed with relief, I sighed with relief," he added.

Ledger died of an accidental overdose on January 22, 2008 just before the movie was released. His performance went on to win him a posthumous Oscar for Best Supporting Actor in 2009.

PTI