Chet Hanks has sent people into a frenzy with his intense impersonation of Heath Ledger’s Joker.
The controversial actor, musician and son of Tom Hanks delivered the impression of the Batman villain – as brought to life by Ledger in 2008’s The Dark Knight – while appearing on Ziwe Fumudoh’s Showtime interview series.
Shirtless and sitting on an excercise ball, Hanks was filmed reciting several lines from the film, apparently unprompted. The clip is embedded below.
“I don’t have any plans,” he says, in response to a question. “I’m like the Joker.”
“Do I look like a guy with a plan?” he then asks, affecting Ledger’s voice and quoting one of his lines from the film.
“I’m like a dog chasing cars. I wouldn’t know what to do with it if I got it! Batman, you complete me,” he continued, reciting more Joker lines. “My father was a drinker and a fiend!
“RIP Heath. GOAT,” he added in his own voice.
Hanks then went on to do an impression of Denzel Washington, prompting Fumudoh to ask whether he thought such an impersonation was offensive, something he denied.
Viewers reacted in shock and bemusement to the impression on social media. Comedian Danielle Schneider wrote: “Im dying of laughter and also terrified of him.”
“Can someone explain how Chet Hanks ended up shirtless doing a joker impersonation?? Im literally so confused,” one viewer wrote.
“I think Chet Hanks may’ve broke Ziwe,” wrote another. “Her whole thing is her being chaotic, but not even she could match his chaotic energy. When he started singing at her and then quoting Heath Ledger’s Joker, the Ziwe character slipped and we were seeing actual Ziwe’s reaction.”
Someone else joked that they were “losing their mind” while another viewer quipped: “Just saw Chet Hanks do a pretty decent Heath Ledgers joker impression and now my day is ruined.”
