Method acting “traces its origins to the early 20th-century teachings of the Russian theatrical realist Konstantin Stanislavski. His work later influenced Lee Strasberg, who’s known as the father of method acting in Hollywood and who trained some of Hollywood’s greatest stars beginning in 1951. Method techniques prompt actors to draw on their own experiences and emotions as a way to strip their performances of artifice. In many cases, actors will replicate the external conditions of their character in order to behave more authentically. Extreme practitioners go so far as to starve themselves, abstain from sleep, and isolate themselves from their loved ones. Actors including Paul Newman, Montgomery Clift, and Jack Nicholson were among the many prominent talents of the second half of the 20th century who sharpened their skills in that school of acting.” Source

Did Heath Ledger open himself up to the demonic realm when playing the Joker?

Tragically there is evidence that more than suggests that Ledger’s problems grew even worse as he began to more intensely plunge into his role as the Joker in the new Batman movie The Dark Knight. Could it be that this role opened Ledger up to demonic oppression or even possession? With headlines from Australia’s Herald Sun like, “Tragic Death: Heath Ledger Battled His Demons” and The Star, stating “If it was personal demons that conspired to destroy Heath Ledger, they were already making their presence felt many years before,” one might wonder if they might be on to something. The truth is that the world is blind to the spiritual world around us, which is filled with demons and angels, the powers of light and the powers of darkness (Ephesian 6:10-12; 1 Cor. 2:12-14 ). The lost world is woefully blind and unaware that there is a spiritual battle between God and the forces of darkness for our very souls. Jesus Christ stated that Satan, “was a murderer from the beginning” and that he is the “father of lies” (John 8:44 ). The scriptures state that Satan seeks to blind the lost from the soul saving gospel of Jesus Christ (2 Cor. 4:3-4 ) and that even after God implants the seed of the good news of salvation through Jesus Christ in the human heart, Satan attempts to snatch it away before one comes to saving faith (Luke 8 ).

The Dark Knight director, Christopher Nolan, said that Heath Ledger’s Joker would be far darker than Jack Nicholson’s version. “He’s extremely original, extremely frightening, tremendously edgy,” said Nolan, “A very young character, a very anarchic presence that taps into a lot of our basic fears and panic.” Tragically, the deep darkness that Ledger tapped into to play the diabolical Joker may have never left him and seemed to have followed him and tormented him until Ledger himself was driven to an untimely death. Ledger stated that the Joker character he assumed was a “psychopathic, mass-murdering, schizophrenic clown with zero empathy.” Ledger told the New York Times that he “had trouble sleeping while portraying the Joker,” and that, “Last week I probably slept an average of two hours a night.” Some have surmised that Ledger may have opened himself up to a demonic entity to better portray the Joker… a demon that in the end, he was unable to escape from. Ledger seems to have been so tormented that he told The Times, “I couldn’t stop thinking. My body was exhausted, and my mind was still going.” He went on to state that he took drugs, which would quell the unrest for only an hour (The Associated Press, January 23, 2008).

Few people realize the dark spiritual side of acting going all the way back to the Greek theater. The best actors in Greek theater were believed to be literally possessed by the entities they sought to portray on stage. Many occultists, like Aleister Crowley, taught that acting and assuming the role of a particular demon was the fastest way to come into contact with a demonic entity. Many actors and actresses have credited their success to possession by a spirit entity. Robin Williams claimed that when acting he becomes possessed, and that in the past they would have burned him as a witch. New Ager, Shirley McClain, has also admitted spirit possession when acting. Matrix star, Keanu Reeves, states that he attempts to connect with his muse and goes on what he refers to as “demon rides” when acting. Johnny Depp has claimed that he is possessed with a multitude of demons and Denzel Washington claims that he is able to put out such great performances because he gets on his knees and calls on spirits to possess his body and empower him to play a given role. Oprah Winfrey has claimed that she lights candles and then petitions spirits to possess her so that she can better perform as well. “I tried to empty myself and let the spirit of Sethe inhabit me,” admits Winfrey. Director, Jonathon Demme, who directed the movie Beloved, said of Winfrey’s performance, “Oprah had explained to me when we originally met that it was her goal and intention to channel the spirit of Margaret Garner…This very infusion of humanity past accounts to a significant degree for Oprah’s stunning alchemy, her astonishing abandonment of self in her Beloved performance.”

Source

In the following Tertullian, writing about 200AD, commented in his writing De Spectaculis said a believer got possessed for entering a theatre. I am not saying everytime one watches a play or goes to a theatre he or she is picking up demons, but it is interesting that at that time it was associated with evil spirits:

Chapter XXVI. “Why may not those who go into the temptations of the show become accessible also to evil spirits? We have the case of the woman—the Lord Himself is witness—who went to the theatre, and came back possessed. In the outcasting, accordingly, when the unclean creature was upbraided with having dared to attack a believer, he firmly replied,“And in truth I did it most righteously, for I found her in my domain.” Another case, too, is well known, in which a woman had been hearing a tragedian, and on the very night she saw in her sleep a linen cloth—the actor’s name being mentioned at the same time with strong disapproval—and five days after that woman was no more. How many other undoubted proofs we have had in the case of persons who, by keeping company with the devil in the shows, have fallen from the Lord! For no one can serve two masters. What fellowship has light with darkness, life with death?”

You also may want to check out The Spirit Behind Hollywood Exposed (Channeling, Possession, and Satanism) 

If you don’t know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, you can receive Him into your heart, and He can deliver you from darkness and sin and have your name written in His Book of Life.

If you are sincere, you can say this simple prayer to the Father (it doesn’t have to be word for word):

“God, I recognize that I have not lived my life for You up until now. I have been living for myself and that is wrong. Please forgive me of all of my sins, just as I forgive others. I need You in my life; I want You in my life. I acknowledge the completed work of Your only-begotten Son Jesus Christ in giving His life for me on the cross, I believe in my heart Jesus is Lord and was raised from the dead and I long to receive the forgiveness you have made freely available to me through this sacrifice. Come into my life now, Lord. Take up residence in my heart and be my king, my Lord, and my Savior. From this day forward, I will no longer be controlled by sin, or the desire to please myself, but I will follow You all the days of my life. Those days are in Your hands. I ask this in the Lord and GOD Jesus’ precious and holy name. Amen.”