Jake Is Taking Heath's Death 'Harder Than Most'
By Bryan Alexander
Heath Ledger's sudden death has been especially tough on his good friend – and Brokeback Mountain costar – Jake Gyllenhaal.
The actor, who is godfather to Ledger's two-year-old daughter Matilda, has been devastated by last week's news. Says one Gyllenhaal friend, "Jake is taking this harder than most people."
Nowhere is that more apparent than on the New Mexico set of Gyllenhaal's latest movie, Brothers.
"This has had a strong personal affect on [Jake]," says a set source. The insider adds that Gyllenhaal left the set immediately after learning of Ledger's – but he flew back on a commercial flight to shoot an additional scene Thursday.
"He was there, but he wasn't with us. It was obviously a major trauma," says the movie source. "These guys were very close. [Jake] was sitting in the director's chair staring off into space."
Gyllenhaal has been off since shooting that scene, and was photographed Saturday looking subdued with girlfriend Reese Witherspoon in Los Angeles. Set sources say director Jim Sheriden is shooting around the absent actor during his personal leave.
The 27-year-old's somber mood is sharp contrast to his happier times on the set of Brothers. During an early scene, a set source describes Gyllenhaal preparing for an intense prison scene. "Jake reaches into his pocket and takes out a picture of Heath Ledger and sticks it on the prison wall. Like those prisoners put [loved ones] on the wall, but Jake's was Heath Ledger," says the source. "That was hilarious. It was a nice moment."
The source adds, "When you think back on it now, it's touching."
http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20174820,00.html