Jonathan Majors was inspired by Heath Ledger back when he saw The Dark Knight

Last Updated on February 15, 2023

Like many, Jonathan Majors was enamored by Heath Ledger’s performance as the Joker in 2008’s The Dark Knight. But for Majors, it was a significant turning point, as after seeing the movie upon release, he decided then to turn away from his rough upbringing to the art of acting.

Talking to Entertainment Weekly, Jonathan Majors said, “Okay, first of all, he’s gorgeous…He’s got that fucking jawline, and he didn’t give a fuck. He threw his body around. He was so full. And I went, ‘I’m coming for that. I’m inspired.’ It takes a lot, you feel me? To be inspired.”

That doesn’t necessarily mean Jonathan Majors was inspired by Heath Ledger’s spin on Joker for his role as Kang the Conqueror in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. For that, he looked partly to the great MCU villains that came before him. “I did look at Ultron, I looked at Loki, I looked at Thanos. And I had an idea of, just for me, what I wanted to bring to the MCU through Kang…They all had very interesting qualities to them, and some of them shared qualities, which is just a necessity for taking up the mantle. And so once I took those out and put those in the Kang soup, I then looked at, ‘What is it we need for this time period?’”

The “Kang soup” seems to be cooking just right, as Jonathan Majors has earned major praise for his performance in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, with many citing him as the standout of the entire movie. Majors has had strong movies before (he’s incredible in Da 5 Bloods), but is looking to have a banner 2023. In addition to Quantumania–due out on February 17th–the actor was also one of the talks of Sundance, where Magazine Dreams premiered. He, too, will certainly prove a powerful force when he steps into the ring in next month’s Creed III.

Jonathan Majors also noted that not only was The Joker character–and The Dark Knight itself–complex, but Ledger himself was throughout his career. “What I saw in Heath, and in everything he did, was: It’s this and that.” And he’s hoping to perpetuate that in his own work, in addition to being the sort of inspiration to others that Ledger was for him. “I’m trying to give as many bastions of hope for those who were like me…We are extremely complex if we allow ourselves to be, and if you can be touched in certain places that you don’t even know, you’ll be better.”

Do you think Jonathan Majors will be a major Hollywood player after this year? What are your thoughts on him as an actor? Let us know!