Author Topic: Heath Ledger - News Accounts  (Read 1142250 times)

Offline MaineWriter

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Re: Heath Ledger - News Accounts
« Reply #880 on: April 23, 2008, 03:37:07 pm »
Here it is, Kelda. I found it on the Showbiz spy:

Michelle Williams ‘haunted by Heath Ledger’s ghost’


Heath Ledger’s former fiancee, Michelle Williams, claims she is being haunted by the tragic actor’s ghost.

Williams told friends that Heath, who died aged 28 of an accidental drug overdose in January, had twice visited her as a “shadowy apparition”.

The first time, she was woken at night after hearing furniture move.

In another “visitation”, she said the ‘Brokeback Mountain’ star apologized to her for not being there to help raise their two-year-old daughter, Matilda.

Williams, 27, claimed the hauntings helped her grieve.

http://www.showbizspy.com/2008/04/23/michelle-williams-haunted-by-heath-ledgers-ghost/
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Offline MaineWriter

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Re: Heath Ledger - News Accounts
« Reply #881 on: April 23, 2008, 03:48:20 pm »
From the Sydney Morning Herald. Alert readers will pick up on what I consider some erroneous information. Oh well...

Alone again, naturally

April 21, 2008

A tragic tale brought them together but real-life tragedy tore them apart. Now Michelle Williams must face up to a future without Heath Ledger - and is doing it the way she knows best. Alone.

The girl from country Montana who left school early, divorced herself from her parents at 15 and scratched out a living after fleeing to Los Angeles to follow her dream, is on her own again.

It's a theme that has run through her life. This time, though, she is rich, famous and a mother, but racked with a pain still raw from her ex-lover's lonely death in a Manhattan apartment last January.

She summed up the agony simply, soon after Ledger's accidental overdose of prescription drugs: "My heart is broken."

This week she is inevitably thrust back into the limelight once more as her latest movie, Deception - filmed before Ledger's death at 28 - goes on worldwide release this Thursday.

But this time there is no globetrotting media whirl, no skipping around the world, smiling for the cameras and telling everyone what a delight it was to work with the cast and crew.

Instead she will be alone at home with their daughter Matilda - a treasured reminder of the man who slipped into her life and transformed it before slipping away silently forever, in the dead of night.

Just two years ago it all seemed so different, although it must feel like another lifetime to Williams. The cuddling couple were the toast of Hollywood: showbiz royalty, second only to Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie - but with more acting credibility.

They had plaudits from the critics, awards in their back pockets, youth, good looks, bright futures and a beautiful new baby daughter. As she said herself back then: "It's hard to imagine things really getting much better."

They met on the set of Brokeback Mountain, the doom-laden tale of gay cowboys where the couple played on-screen husband and wife. While the characters' lives are wrecked by Ledger's sexual confusion, the real-life attraction between the two was immediate and clear.

"That memory of when I first met him and first saw him is so dear and personal that I don't want to give it away and I don't want to lie about it," she said at the time.

"It's tricky because you're talking about someone you love, so you want to bubble over about it. But it is very vivid in my memory and I just want to keep it in my memory."

Almost overnight, though, she later admitted, she felt as if she and Ledger had met before and known each other for years.

"The more I know him, the more I have a sense of a deeper past than two years together," she said.

"I don't know - I feel like a split cell when I'm with him. It's weird, really."

The romance didn't go unnoticed by their co-stars on the movie. "I remember being in rehearsal and the two of them had googly eyes with each other," Jake Gyllenhaal said of the couple. "There were sparks immediately," added Anne Hathaway. "It was adorable."

By the time the movie finished, Ledger and Williams were not only an item but parents-to-be. By the time it premiered, Matilda had been born and they were both nominated for Oscars.

"It will be forever special because of meeting Heath and having Matilda," she admitted. "It is probably not often in your lifetime that you are part of a film that means so much to so many people."

For both of them it had been a long journey - but one that had finally led to success and happiness at a young age. Williams was just 25 when Matilda was born, Ledger only 26.

Like Ledger - who had left his family home in Western Australia to head east to become an actor, leading him eventually to LA - Williams had given up everything to pursue her acting dream. "It was there like the air," she said. "Like breathing or drinking water. It was just something I always wanted."

At the age of 15, for "legal and emotional reasons", she won a court's approval to officially separate from her wealthy parents and struck out on her own.

"I was stubborn, I wanted to be alone," Williams explained. "I wanted to do everything by myself.

"I was living in LA, going to auditions, getting little jobs every now and then, living in this town of predators. I was bull-headed. I didn't know there was anything to be scared of. It was the brazenness of youth.

"I was a stubborn, wilful 15-year-old who got her way. Who wouldn't want to live on their own when they're 15? I marvel that things have turned out as well as they have, not just the success but the survival. That's what I'm most proud of."

The bit parts finally led to a regular role in the teen TV drama Dawson's Creek that first brought her fame, but it wasn't until she moved into art house movies and theatre that she began to be taken seriously.

She admitted it was hard: "I've kept my nose to the grindstone and kept working. I feel like a plough horse - diligent, dedicated and tireless."

The workload paid off - at 25, after 10 years of working solidly, she had a CV and reputation to match many veterans and that experience won her the role in Brokeback Mountain ... and her meeting with Ledger.

She instantly saw a kindred spirit, a youthful overachiever who was taking on the world on his own terms.

"We talked about that a few times," she said once. "About how it can be difficult when you start acting as young as we both were. But I don't regret it. I learned a lot."

For Williams the transition from single gal to one-half of an engaged couple in the media spotlight was life-changing.

"I like to take a lot of stubborn pride in my independence," she said at the time.

But from being a capable independent soul, she was now under the protection of the fiercely private Ledger. When he wasn't hugging Williams protectively in front of the cameras, he was standing in front of her, clearing a safe pathway for her through flash bulbs and life.

The couple became notorious with paparazzi for not playing the game, refusing to pose and angrily lashing out. The one time they did play to the cameras - on a red carpet in Sydney - they were rewarded with a spray from water pistols from fed-up photographers.

They fled the goldfish bowl of life at their beachside home in Bronte in Sydney's eastern suburbs for the anonymity of New York's Brooklyn and faded into the background of day-to-day NY life, apparently blissfully happy.

"[He's] a really excellent, devoted, diaper bag-toting father," Williams said of Ledger, while he added: "I love my neighbours - we're left to live. I like everything. I adore it."

But, while Ledger could protect his new family from the evil paparazzi, he could do nothing about the demons inside himself.

Just months after they both missed out on Oscars, Williams was reportedly trying to persuade Ledger to seek help for a growing drink and drug problem. When that failed they struggled on until Williams could take no more and they split.

Ledger spiralled out of control in a descent that eventually led to his death. Williams was in Sweden working on another film, Mammoth, when she heard the news.

Devastated, she flew back immediately and later attended the seaside memorial service at Cottesloe Beach in Western Australia which celebrated the star's life and concluded with a fully dressed, high-spirited dunk in the ocean.

Williams paid tribute to the star after his death, saying: "He had an uncontrollable energy. He buzzed. He would jump out of bed. For as long as I'd known him, he had bouts with insomnia. He just had too much energy. His mind was turning, turning, turning - always turning. He had a talent for everything that he put his mind to. He didn't know limits."

Just days after the star's death, an interview pre-dating the tragedy was published about her split with Ledger but which contained an ominous prediction of her future.

She told the UK's Wonderland magazine: "For so long I felt like a walking open wound everywhere I went.

"There's this Joan Didion quote about being afflicted from an early age with a presentiment of loss. Did I come into the world like that? Or was I kind of gifted that?"

She added: "Obviously, so much has changed for me in the last few months that I don't really have an idea of what my life is going to be.

"'I thought I knew certain things and it turned out that I didn't, so I don't really try and anticipate so much any more. I'm not making any bets on the future."

She added: "I love domestic life. There's been a lot going on in my personal life and part of me is ... I don't know. I shouldn't talk about it, but it's like I'm re-emerging back into the world or something."

And as a plus, she had said, there has been less attention from the paparazzi.

"When you're in a relationship with somebody who is also a public personality, then it doubles the attention from the media," she said.

"When you minus that equation, it's just less enticing. That's been a real bonus. It's the plus side of the break-up for me."

The silver lining didn't last long, though. Ledger's death has only increased press interest in her to levels even beyond that when their relationship was alive.

For now, though, Williams is focusing only on herself and her daughter.

As she once said: "It's me, the baby and the breast pump ... I like to do things for myself, by myself."

Michelle Williams is alone again.

Deception, starring Williams, Hugh Jackman and Ewan McGregor, opens on Thursday. It is rated R.
Source: The Sun-Herald

This story was found at: http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2008/04/19/1208025541065.html
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Offline RouxB

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Re: Heath Ledger - News Accounts
« Reply #882 on: April 24, 2008, 10:51:54 pm »
No news-just hate to see the activity die here though I know it's bound to. But not today  :-*

Heathen

Offline MilAn

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Re: Heath Ledger - News Accounts
« Reply #883 on: April 25, 2008, 09:25:30 am »
Heath's Australian cowboy friend walks great wall of china for cancer - in memory of Heath

http://www.afterelton.com/bgwe/4-25-8?page=0%2C3

Offline belbbmfan

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Re: Heath Ledger - News Accounts
« Reply #884 on: April 25, 2008, 09:31:18 am »
Heath's Australian cowboy friend walks great wall of china for cancer - in memory of Heath

http://www.afterelton.com/bgwe/4-25-8?page=0%2C3

I made a donation yesterday, thanking him for doing this in Heath's memory. I got a thank you email this morning. It's quite an effort and all for a good cause.
« Last Edit: April 25, 2008, 02:38:25 pm by belbbmfan »
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Offline MilAn

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Re: Heath Ledger - News Accounts
« Reply #885 on: April 25, 2008, 09:54:00 am »
I made a donation yesterday, thanking him for doing this in Heath's memory. I got a thank you email this morning. It's quit an effort and all for a good cause.

Very true! :)

Offline optom3

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Re: Heath Ledger - News Accounts
« Reply #886 on: April 25, 2008, 06:16:40 pm »
The EW article ...

The Dark Knight, July 18th

It's impossible to know how Ledger's performance in The Dark Knight might have been perceived had the actor lived to see the film's opening.  His wildly different approach to the Joker - "totally fearless" is how director Nolan described it in an interview on the set last year - would surely have drawn attention anyway, if only for the deeply creepy clown makeup splattered all over Ledger's face.  But the star's death adds a tragic resonance to the turn that nobody could have anticipated.  Already there is talk in Hollywood about a posthumous Oscar.

Of course, The Dark Knight was intended to be one of this summer's biggest sequels.  Picking up the story line from Nolan's 2005 Batman Begins - and revisiting that film's gloomy, contemplative tone - it once again stars Bale as the brooding caped crusader, with Caine returning as butler Alfred, Morgan Freeman as inventor Lucius Fox, and Gary Oldman as Lieut. Gordon.  This time, though, Maggie Gyllenhaal takes over for Katie Holmes as Rachel Dawes (a.k.a. Bruce Wayne's love interest) and Eckhart enters the picture as DA Harvey Dent (a.k.a. Two-Face).  Expect the usual eye-popping Bat-action, including a chase scene with a sleek new Bat-pod, much of it shot the old-fashioned way, with real actors and real explosions.

Still, there's no denying that Ledger's death has made The Dark Knight an Event Movie of an altogether different sort - one of the last screen performances by a young actor who had already earned one Oscar nomination (for Brokeback Mountain) and who seemed destined for a career filled with more.  Even before his death, Ledger's casting in Jack Nicholson's former role was one of the most intriguing aspects of this production.  "I knew from the first day on the set that Heath was going to totally redefine the Joker," says Eckhart.  "He just really got into it and took the character to the limit.  He went for it.  I know the film is going to be perceived differently now, but that could be a good thing.  You know, maybe it'll just make people think about Heath's talent."




I do not think I will be able to go and watch it.I find just the makeup disturbing enough,particularly combined with all the speculation about Heaths' frame of mind.I think it would possibly be a step too far fro me at the moment.
I am ambivalent about a posthumous Oscar as well. Part of me thinks it would just be Hollywood throwing a panacea to the fans.He deserved the Oscar when he was alive for BBM and awarding one when he is gone,seems a bit like shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted.

However I guess it would be nice for his daughter and family to have some tangible recognition of his enormous talent.
It still does not let the idiots off the hook who ignored him after BBM. I despise cowardice and pandering to the masses.I find it equally distasteful when all of a sudden there is a whole host of sycophants.

It's just all a bit too late, and funnily enough I actually think an award for his acting talent would have been one thing that Heath would really have appreciated.I think he was far more concerned about being thought of as a good actor,than any of the money and media attention.He lived for his daughter and his work.
Oh dear all this is making me miserable all over again.I think that is going to be a definite no to the Dark Knight !!!!

Offline Ellemeno

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Re: Heath Ledger - News Accounts
« Reply #887 on: April 26, 2008, 12:32:24 am »
The EW article ...

The Dark Knight, July 18th

It's impossible to know how Ledger's performance in The Dark Knight might have been perceived had the actor lived to see the film's opening.  His wildly different approach to the Joker - "totally fearless" is how director Nolan described it in an interview on the set last year - would surely have drawn attention anyway, if only for the deeply creepy clown makeup splattered all over Ledger's face.  But the star's death adds a tragic resonance to the turn that nobody could have anticipated.  Already there is talk in Hollywood about a posthumous Oscar.

Of course, The Dark Knight was intended to be one of this summer's biggest sequels.  Picking up the story line from Nolan's 2005 Batman Begins - and revisiting that film's gloomy, contemplative tone - it once again stars Bale as the brooding caped crusader, with Caine returning as butler Alfred, Morgan Freeman as inventor Lucius Fox, and Gary Oldman as Lieut. Gordon.  This time, though, Maggie Gyllenhaal takes over for Katie Holmes as Rachel Dawes (a.k.a. Bruce Wayne's love interest) and Eckhart enters the picture as DA Harvey Dent (a.k.a. Two-Face).  Expect the usual eye-popping Bat-action, including a chase scene with a sleek new Bat-pod, much of it shot the old-fashioned way, with real actors and real explosions.

Still, there's no denying that Ledger's death has made The Dark Knight an Event Movie of an altogether different sort - one of the last screen performances by a young actor who had already earned one Oscar nomination (for Brokeback Mountain) and who seemed destined for a career filled with more.  Even before his death, Ledger's casting in Jack Nicholson's former role was one of the most intriguing aspects of this production.  "I knew from the first day on the set that Heath was going to totally redefine the Joker," says Eckhart.  "He just really got into it and took the character to the limit.  He went for it.  I know the film is going to be perceived differently now, but that could be a good thing.  You know, maybe it'll just make people think about Heath's talent."





I haven't had this in a while, but every sentence in the past tense about Heath is causing me to jump - What?  What??  Finding out all over again...

Offline Meryl

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Re: Heath Ledger - News Accounts
« Reply #888 on: April 26, 2008, 12:14:51 pm »
I haven't had this in a while, but every sentence in the past tense about Heath is causing me to jump - What?  What??  Finding out all over again...

I know.  It's never going to make any kind of sense.  :(
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Marge_Innavera

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Re: Heath Ledger - News Accounts
« Reply #889 on: April 26, 2008, 01:26:10 pm »
I do not think I will be able to go and watch it.I find just the makeup disturbing enough,particularly combined with all the speculation about Heaths' frame of mind.I think it would possibly be a step too far fro me at the moment.

I can certainly understand how some Heath fans would find it too painful to watch this movie, but I'm not going to be able to stay away.  Kind of ironic -- I have had, and have, absolutely no interest in any of the Batman movies otherwise.

Quote
I am ambivalent about a posthumous Oscar as well. Part of me thinks it would just be Hollywood throwing a panacea to the fans.He deserved the Oscar when he was alive for BBM and awarding one when he is gone,seems a bit like shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted.

I'd be happy to see Heath get an Oscar but it won't raise my opinion of AMPAS at all -- his possible nomination will be the only reason for me to watch it next year. It's kind of reminiscent of an exchange at the beginning of Doctor Zhivago (movie version) years after Zhivago's death:

Aide: We all admire your brother [Yuri Zhivago] very much.

Evgrav: Yes, everybody seems to.  Now.