Author Topic: Heath Ledger - News Accounts  (Read 1144317 times)

Offline LauraGigs

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Re: Heath Ledger - News Accounts
« Reply #770 on: March 02, 2008, 07:29:14 pm »
It may not look like Heath from his golden-boy pinups, Fran, but IMO it does resemble late 2007 Heath:



 :-\

Offline optom3

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Re: Heath Ledger - News Accounts
« Reply #771 on: March 02, 2008, 08:34:10 pm »
I'm having trouble with the prominent clavicle bones.  Heath looks too thin in the painting.

OK.  I'm going to say it:  I don't think it looks like him at all

Me neither,
or at least, not the way I would like to remember him.
 I find it too painful to think of him, and indeed see him ,looking so thin.I realise he was probably troubled latterly,I just prefer my memory to be of that lovely smile,and reflective unassuming persona.

Offline Meryl

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Re: Heath Ledger - News Accounts
« Reply #772 on: March 02, 2008, 09:07:08 pm »
Call me crazy, but I love that portrait of Heath.  I think it's a great likeness, and it suggests his deeper, more creative aspect to me.  He had an active mind, to the point where he couldn't sleep for his racing thoughts, and the artist seems to have found a way to represent that brilliantly.  The other parts of himself are ever present, active and restless.  The number three is mystical and makes me think of the description of him as an "old soul."  The expression on the face of the central figure suggests he's looking inward.  I love the tattoos, too.
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Offline j.U.d.E.

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Re: Heath Ledger - News Accounts
« Reply #773 on: March 02, 2008, 09:24:31 pm »
What I thought was the best insight, though a very bitter one, was the author's remark that if Heath had started "acting like an a**hole", showing up for a day's work at a movie shoot obviously under the influence, etc. he might still be alive because people who knew him well might have figured that something was wrong and done some kind of intervention.

[..] And it's true -- it's the people who, through insecurity, strength of character, or some of both, who struggle along in "quiet desperation" without showing any outward signs who so often fall through the cracks.

I want to agree with that!

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Offline j.U.d.E.

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Re: Heath Ledger - News Accounts
« Reply #774 on: March 02, 2008, 09:45:39 pm »
 
Call me crazy, but I love that portrait of Heath.  I think it's a great likeness, and it suggests his deeper, more creative aspect to me.  He had an active mind, to the point where he couldn't sleep for his racing thoughts, and the artist seems to have found a way to represent that brilliantly.  The other parts of himself are ever present, active and restless.  The number three is mystical and makes me think of the description of him as an "old soul."  The expression on the face of the central figure suggests he's looking inward.  I love the tattoos, too.

Very beautifully said Meryl! I like the bit about the 'racing thoughts'. I like the triple Heath too. To me - I said it before - it's like he's saying - 'too many Heaths in my head'.. He seems exhausted. I know what I'm writing isn't very clear, but I hope Vincent Fantauzzo wins!

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Re: Heath Ledger - News Accounts
« Reply #775 on: March 02, 2008, 10:08:15 pm »
I agree the Heath in the centre is rather unsettling because we all know he was having a hard time in his personal life in the last few months, that's why we would always project that thought into the portrait.  But I like the 2 Heaths on the 2 sides, I think they captured the energy and playfulness of Heath.  I always concentrate on those 2 Heaths when I look at the portrait and I'm fine with it.

« Last Edit: March 03, 2008, 08:37:22 am by yb »

Offline Fran

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Re: Heath Ledger - News Accounts
« Reply #776 on: March 02, 2008, 10:31:41 pm »
It may not look like Heath from his golden-boy pinups, Fran, but IMO it does resemble late 2007 Heath:



 :-\

So I see, Laura.  Obviously, I haven't spent much time in the Heath Heath Heath thread.



In the photo on the right, which was supposedly taken a couple of days after the one on the left, he's practically skin and bones, much too thin.

I guess I should edit my comment about the painting to this:

I don't like it, even if it is comprised of perfect likenesses of Heath.  I find it painful to look at. 

On a happier note, it looks like Matilda remembered her harmonica in the above picture.  :)
« Last Edit: March 03, 2008, 03:59:03 am by Fran »

Offline Kerry

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Re: Heath Ledger - News Accounts
« Reply #777 on: March 03, 2008, 08:29:59 am »
Call me crazy, but I love that portrait of Heath.  I think it's a great likeness, and it suggests his deeper, more creative aspect to me.  He had an active mind, to the point where he couldn't sleep for his racing thoughts, and the artist seems to have found a way to represent that brilliantly.  The other parts of himself are ever present, active and restless.  The number three is mystical and makes me think of the description of him as an "old soul."  The expression on the face of the central figure suggests he's looking inward.  I love the tattoos, too.

What Meryl said. I love it and would love to have it hanging in my home.  :D
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Offline MaineWriter

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Re: Heath Ledger - News Accounts
« Reply #778 on: March 04, 2008, 10:32:54 am »
Gemma Ward comments on Heath. From the Sydney Morning Herald:

The girl who fell to earth

March 3, 2008

Five minutes into meeting Gemma Ward, even in mid-conversation, I find myself actively counting the centimetres between her eyes. It could be five centimetres, it could be seven, but her eyes are so wide set it's like being drawn into the twilight zone.

Of course, Ward - who is spectacularly tall in real life - has parlayed her "alien" look into a multimillion-dollar modelling career. She is not only famous for appearing on the covers of the world's best-known magazines and sashaying down runways, she has also been linked to some high-profile men, most particularly Heath Ledger.

Ward, 20, has initially asked that there are no personal questions during the interview - her grief about Ledger, a fellow West Australian, is still raw. Instead, Ward wants to talk about her career shift into films and the early success of the Australian movie The Black Balloon in which she stars. (The film, which is released nationally on Thursday, has won the Crystal Bear for best feature in the Generation 14plus section at the Berlin Film Festival).

It's obvious Ledger, an Oscar-nominated star, left a real impression on Ward about how she should tackle her emerging film career. Speaking directly about Ledger for the first time since his death, Ward says: "I think he operated from the heart. He really, really knew that if he was going to make a decision to be in a film, then he needed to be really committed to it.

"He wasn't afraid to fight with people involved, he wasn't afraid to perhaps piss people off.

"He told me to always be a punk and 'stand up for yourself'," Ward says softly, her deep voice still displaying an Australian accent.

It's obvious Ward has relied on family to help pull her through a tough time. Her older sister, Sophie, has now moved to New York to share her flat.

It's not immediately apparent, but across the room from where we are sitting (inside the club lounge at Sydney's Hotel InterContinental) a relaxed family of four - a very tall mum and dad, both striking in their blonde and brunette looks, and two teenage boys (with strangely familiar eyes) playing games on a mobile phone - are sitting waiting for Gemma. It's the rest of the Ward family, who have travelled to Sydney with her.

"Yeah, that's them over there. They're my brothers [twins]; they just turned 17," she says, with a smile. "Through my whole career, that's been a major thing, bringing my family with me."

Ward's shift into acting is notable for the fact she chose to play a key character in an Australian-made production - The Black Balloon, which centres on a family living with autism - rather than a walk-on role in a Hollywood film.

After appearing in Vanity Fair with George Clooney and being recognised all over the world as a modelling name, Ward could have had her pick of the "pretty girlfriend" roles on offer in LA.

"It's an incredibly touching film, you can tell it's from the heart," Ward says of the film.

" It's not only a piece of artwork, it's a story that needs to be told. It's opening up an area in people's brains about issues that are not often spoken about."

It's surprising to realise how grounded Ward is in person. Since she was thrust into the world of international fashion at 16, she has been in a world many of us will never see.

At first, Ward's famous "alien" look may have come in handy as she felt as though she was on another planet.

"It was the best and darkest of times, especially in the beginning," she says. "The day after my 16th birthday, I left to go to New York and I ended up staying from then. Especially because I was younger, it felt very much like I was learning a new way of being.

"You don't really question what's happening because you're just soaking it in. So I kind of just accepted it, but it did take a little while.

"It was hard to be alone at that age, coming from a family that was very, very, very close."

Ward's image has been so wound into the world of fantasy and fashion, her career so dependent on her appearance, that her warmth and intelligence is almost unexpected. She might be a supermodel, but she has a refreshingly balanced view of where she sits in the overall picture.

"I have felt it," she says, of the pressure of fame and recognition.

"But it's kind of dying now, because I realise you can't ever please everyone."

"Sometimes when people are constantly wanting the fantasy or the illusion, you have to break it to them that it's not real, you know what I mean?" she says, with a giggle.

"It's hard if you start believing that you should be really that perfect fantasy ideal, that people start believing because of all of the retouching . . . you know. There's a real person behind that.

"You can delve into that fantasy world and play with it, but when you walk away, that's not you. Other people can't really differentiate that sometimes - there are a lot of young girls that I'll meet on the street, that'll know me, and they'll say, 'Oh, you don't seem at all like a famous model'.

"And I'm like, 'Well, that's the job and this is me'. We can all play dress-ups, we can all make ourselves look like that.

"I definitely do feel sometimes that people would like to put that pressure on me. But at the end of the day, I'd prefer to say, 'Hate to break it to you, but . . ."

With millions in her bank account, Ward has an air of chic that suits her globetrotting lifestyle: immaculate skin, white-bright platinum-blonde hair and a boho outfit centred on jeans and a tie-dyed T-shirt with a peace symbol and a yellow scarf artfully wrapped around her neck.

She struggles to define how her wealth has impacted upon her life, although it's clear she's not too worried about counting dollars.

"I'm not really sure how it has changed me," she says of her fortune, estimated to be more than $10 million.

"The first thing might sound a little bit horrible, but I don't often ask how much I'm getting paid for certain things. I try not to make it a deciding factor in my choices, so I often don't ask - I know it might come back and slap me in the face when somebody rips me off or something," she says, with a laugh.

"I'm very aware of my spending, but I'm not very aware of my income. There are certain times when I speak to my accountant, or something will pop up, and I'll be like, 'Oh', but it's not really a frontrunner in my head. I know that it definitely helps with, for example, if I'm really in a place where I need someone, some of my family, they can come."

Her success as a model has assisted Ward in making a credible shift into film, rather than just doing something for the sake of raising her profile or earning extra cash.

"It helps with making film choices that I'm not just struggling for the money, that helps a lot as well," she says.

"I remember doing my first commercials when I was young and, you know, getting a little bit of money for that and feeling so good that it was there. I worked at a pizza shop at one point, as well, while I was doing all these other things.

"So I've kind of just learnt to enjoy the work aspect that comes and, when you receive the money afterwards, I know that I worked really hard and that's great."

It's hard sometimes for the film elite to take models seriously when they begin acting, but Ward is hoping to emulate the decisions - and values - of some of our biggest stars.

"I've always admired Cate Blanchett and the roles she chooses," Ward says.

"I think she's got an incredible discipline in a way, with choosing roles that are going to help her grow and bring something interesting to the world." While Ward hasn't met the Oscar-winner yet, she says she'd "love to".

Toni Collette, who stars in The Black Balloon, left a real impression on Ward - even before they were sharing the film set.

"I remember Toni Collette as being one of the people who first made me want to be an actress, because I watched The Sixth Sense and I was blown away by her performance. I remember it was one of the first times I watched the Oscars because I was just desperate for her to win," Ward says.

"She's just so gentle and supportive of all of us, she really did look after us all [on The Black Balloon set]."

Ward says behind the great names and hardworking artists are people filled with insecurities, just like everyone else.

"I've learnt, through modelling as well, that we place a lot of emphasis on not only celebrities, but designers, and people that we all admire. How fast you learn when you work with these people that they can be just as self-conscious or shy or just as normal and goofy as anyone. I mean, when I met George Clooney, same thing - he was just such a goofy guy, not at all what you'd think."

So she wasn't chatted up by Clooney, then? Does Ward, as a supermodel, have rich and famous men chasing after her? Shelaughs uproariously, looking a touch embarrassed by the question.

"In New York, you do have certain guys that are like that. But I don't really dress up to that. I don't often go to many of those things," she says.

Ward, who attended the premiere for The Black Balloon in Sydney last week, will continue to base herself in New York, although it is clear she has a huge affection for Western Australia. She will continue to work in the fashion world, but her long-term goal is a serious acting career. Ward just wants to make choices that suit her, not other people.

"I definitely have gone through some ups and downs and sometimes I find the easiest way is not to ever think [about the scrutiny] . . . you kind of feel embarrassed or ashamed if somebody else is expecting something or watching you," she says. "It's about being comfortable, however you are."

The Black Balloon is released nationally on Thursday.
Source: The Sun-Herald

This story was found at: http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2008/03/02/1204402314723.html
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mvansand76

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Re: Heath Ledger - News Accounts
« Reply #779 on: March 04, 2008, 10:44:28 am »
She seems like a clever girl. I have always wondered why people hated the fact that Heath and she were linked together, and couldn't believe that someone like Heath would go out with somebody like Ward. Is that because she was a model? I think they might have had a lot in common and Heath was probably someone she went to for advice. I can totally see that.