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So what was it about Heath Ledger's Joker that made it so memorable, so feverishly engrossing in its complete abandon? Was it his deep understanding of the character? His anarchic approach? Could it be that it was because he was secretly hoping to get fired from the movie, so he let it all hang out and it ended up working flawlessly for the psychotic supervillain?

According to a new article on the upcoming issue of Vanity Fair, Ledger didn't really want to be in a big blockbuster movie like The Dark Knight and only took the job to get away from other big offers.

Be warned that the piece is quite gossipy and focuses on Ledger's personal demons and his failed relationship, which is rather off-putting for me, personally. It takes snipes at Michelle Williams, and I'm disappointed to see Terry Gilliam contributing to this speculative "what made Ledger snap" stuff. A part of it, though, is fascinating in what it reveals about Ledger's decision to go from an Academy Award-heavy film and small art projects to being a Batman villain.

For this, Vanity Fair's contributing editor Peter Biskind got Ledger's agent Steven Alexander and cinematographer Nicola Pecorini, who worked on Ledger's last film The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, to comment on Heath's decision to become the Joker.

Alexander tells Biskind that Ledger had a pay-or-play deal on The Dark Knight—meaning he’d get compensated no matter what—so he felt he had the freedom to do whatever he wanted as the Joker. According to Pecorini, Ledger hoped his performance would be so far-out he’d be fired, and thus become the beneficiary of a lengthy, paid vacation.

Just to clarify: pay-or-play, or otherwise known as a guarantee, is a term on actor's contracts that ensures that they get paid for participating in a shoot. So in the event that a production stops for whatever reason, or if the actor is let go from the project, they would still receive their salary. They do this because committing to one film usually means passing on other opportunities, so they want compensation just for clearing their schedule. Essentially, a big long production like The Dark Knight would be the perfect excuse for Ledger to pull off a plan like that.

Obviously, it paid off in a different manner, despite meeting a tragic end. Whether or not this was actually Ledger's intention behind it, what he did in the role ended up working wonderfully for its reckless, fearless and almost unchecked performance. It would have been interesting to see how Ledger himself would've reacted to the aftermath of the film and where his career could have taken him.

As for Parnassus, a footage of the film was shown at the Cannes Film Festival last month, which showed a clip of Ledger's final performance. Video included below.