The cast of upcoming Batman film The Dark Knight are lobbying for their late co-star Heath Ledger to be awarded an Oscar.
The Australian actor died of an overdose in his New York apartment soon after shooting the film.
Much has been made of his difficulty in coming to terms with darkness of The Joker's character.
But Ledger's fellow cast members have only praise for his performance and attitude to his craft, which Christain Bale said "raised the bar".
Gary Oldman told E!Online: "Heath had this frequency none of us could hear. The Academy tends to overlook movies like this, but this acting is so good it's going to be very hard for them to avoid it."
Director Christopher Nolan recalled Ledger's unusual technique for putting the character together.
"He called me during preproduction from time to time to tell me what he was working on," Nolan said.
"He told me he was researching the way ventriloquist dummies talk. It was a bit peculiar."
But, Nolan told E!Online, he was won over when he saw Ledger's performance.
According to the website, Ledger was "trying for a vocal style that would match the Joker's chaotic character".
So far the only person ever to receive a posthumous best actor award is Peter Finch for his role in Network.
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