Heath Ledger "Brokeback Mountain", Ledger costarred with fellow Australian Abbie Cornish in the 2006 Australian film "Candy," an adaptation of the 1998 novel "," as young heroin addicts in love attempting to break free of their addiction, whose mentor is played by Geoffrey Rush; for his performance as sometime poet Dan, Ledger was nominated for three "Best Actor" awards, including one of the Film Critics Circle of Australia Awards, which both Cornish and Rush won in their categories. Shortly after the release of "Candy", Ledger was invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. As one of six actors
Heath Ledger embodying different aspects of the life of Bob Dylan in the 2007 film "I'm Not There", directed by Todd Haynes, Ledger "won praise for his portrayal of 'Robbie [Clark],' a moody, counter-culture actor who represents the romanticist side of Dylan, but says accolades are never his motivation". Posthumously, on 23 February 2008, he shared the 2007 Independent Spirit Robert Altman Award with the rest of the film's ensemble cast, its director, and its casting director. In his penultimate film performance, Ledger played the Joker in Christopher Nolan's 2008 film "The Dark Knight", which was released nearly six months after his