[Captain Beefheart]

Haven't seen Monster's Ball so I can't comment on that.

Playing The Joker is quite the challenge. On one hand you have to live up to the expectations of fans who've already seen the character being portrayed by one of the best actors of all time(on the record I love Jack but I was really turned off by his interpretation and I also hate Tim Burton, thought I'd add that for good measure)

On the second you're playing one of the biggest villain's of all time. I thought it was interesting that Heath would study Clockwork Orange because Alex is one of the most complex characters in cinema, and the greatest tell is that despite the character being masochistic, sadistic, amoral pedantically calculated madman right at the end you actually "feel" for him, it's like you forget the rape and the beatings and your judgment transcends with an added sense of empathy because he was only a product of his environment. The Joker despite his psychotic allure is generally liked.