Author Topic: Remember Michelle's Pain  (Read 17448 times)

Offline "Joseph Golden"

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Remember Michelle's Pain
« on: January 28, 2008, 10:41:24 am »
Michelle's sorrow for Heath

AS the world mourns the loss of the prodigious talent of Heath Ledger, attention has turned to the sorrow of his former partner, Michelle Ingrid Williams.

Ledger's most challenging and rewarding role was that of family man and there are fears that the loss of his greatest love may have prompted the anxiety and insomnia that could well have cost his life.

The split in September with his then-fiancee and mother of his beloved daughter, Matilda, came as a shock to many.

The couple, whose love story had played out publicly - both as co-stars on the set of Brokeback Mountain, then in a world tour promoting the film - had seemed perfectly matched.

Indeed Ledger, a wildly successful performer who clearly never wanted to be a celebrity, had been unusually forthcoming in interviews about his feelings for 27-year-old Williams.

"The level of synchronicity that's in my life now, with me and Michelle and now Matilda, has meant it's become everything to me - the most important thing I do,'' he once said, of family life.

"My child smiles up at me in the morning and that's it - I feel connected to life, this is what it's all about.

"Before, I felt like I was floating through life, like a ghost - I may not have even existed - and now I feel physical and grounded and life now is about as real as it gets. There's something very cosmic about the experience of parenthood. Suddenly, you get the right perspective and priorities.''

Ledger said he and Williams, a former child star who made her name in the soap series Dawson's Creek, had fallen for each other almost as soon as shooting started on Brokeback Mountain, in Canada.

"We were knee-deep in snow and on the fifth take, Michelle and I were tobogganing down the hill _ we were supposed to fall off, having a fun time,'' he said.

"(But) Michelle was screaming in pain. She'd twisted her knee - she was pretty much on crutches for the rest of the shoot. And I felt I always had to look after her after that.''

The romance was so swift that Williams was pregnant before the shooting finished and had given birth to Matilda before the film's release.

"Becoming a father definitely exceeds all my expectations, but I was always expecting it and a lot from it. It's marvellous - and the most remarkable experience I've ever had,'' Ledger said.

Friends and co-stars reflected last week on the powerful bond that the pair had shared.

Screenwriter Luke Davies, whose film Candy was the first shoot Ledger took part in after Brokeback Mountain, wrote of their obvious bond during a night in Sydney.

"He seemed, at times, quite literally beside himself with love for her, unable to contain his excitement,'' Davies wrote last week.

"I remember one night during pre-production, in an almost empty nightclub in Kings Cross, watching him sweep her to her feet and swirl her around an empty dance floor, much to the relief of a bored DJ.

"It was a completely private moment - he wasn't doing it for the benefit of others, those of us settling into our seats or buying a round.

"He wanted to dance with Williams. He seemed to carry that same I-can't-believe-it-can-feel-like-this grin from 10 Things I Hate About You.

"I had the odd sensation, watching them, that their experience at just that moment was a little more intense than mine. I almost felt the need to avert my eyes - that pure joy again.''

Williams was not just his lover - she became his defender, after a nasty run-in with paparazzi photographers spurred the pair to move out of their Bronte home, in search of privacy in New York City.

The young star who, like Ledger, was nominated for an Oscar for her performance in Brokeback Mountain, had the grief of his death etched across her face in grainy photographs taken a day after her former partner's shock death.

Williams had been in Trollhattan, Sweden, where she had been shooting scenes for the upcoming film Mammoth, when she was told.

It is not known why their love story fell apart. Neither has spoken about it publicly.

Even in a world of cynical movie-star romances, their relationship seemed special.

Those moments on the red carpet, when they looked at one another and smiled, seemed to have extra intensity.

But like so many relationships in the glare of public life, it just simply crumbled.

At the time of the separation, there was no official statement - just confirmation of the break-up from a "source'' to a US tabloid magazine.

Saying the relationship had been troubled for some time, the "friend'' said the pair had simply grown apart.

Ledger moved out of the Brooklyn townhouse that he and Williams shared, into the SoHo, Manhattan, apartment where he was to die.

He still spent time with his daughter, but filled his other hours with long periods of socialising and a frenetic work schedule.

Since Ledger's death, reports have emerged of a complicated web of relationships with a series of glamorous women.

The number and beauty of these women is not unlike those who played a role in Michael Hutchence's life before his untimely death in Sydney in November, 1997.

Hutchence's partner, Paula Yates, never recovered from his death and died of an accidental heroin overdose at the age of 40, in September, 2000.

The death of Yates left their daughter, Heavenly Hiraani Tiger Lily Hutchence, an orphan.

Much younger than Yates, Williams must now confront her own grief, the public outpouring for her ex-fiance - and the women who filled his days in her absence.

It is a lot to ask of a 27-year-old single mother.

Ledger's close-knit family, devastated over his death, has promised to keep looking out for the little girl whom he loved so much.

"You lived life with courage and daring and we are so grateful for the wonderful times we shared,'' his mother, Sally, wrote in one of a number of heart-rending death notices in The West Australian newspaper on Friday. "We will be there for Matilda.''

Let's hope there is as much consideration for Williams .

http://www.news.com.au/perthnow/story/0,21598,23119658-948,00.html?from=mostpop

This article is good, i think we should all take a moment to think about Michelle. Not just Matilda.

I am sure her pain would be as sorrowful as anybody Else's.

Lets hope there is some more consideration.
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Offline Artiste

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Re: Remember Michelle's Pain
« Reply #1 on: January 28, 2008, 11:17:13 am »
Yes!

Thanks melb_boy88!

Hugs! Keep care... hugs to you and to all too!!

Offline nakymaton

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Re: Remember Michelle's Pain
« Reply #2 on: January 28, 2008, 11:35:33 am »
I hope she's doing all right. :(
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Offline mouk

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Re: Remember Michelle's Pain
« Reply #3 on: January 28, 2008, 11:38:46 am »
Thank you Melb

It is not because they split that she does not care for him. deeply Those two were not superficial people and she would not have left him unless she felt she really had to. Neither would she get over it easily, I think.

Added to her sorrow, there must be all the regret that she was no longer in a position to make him happy in the last months, that in fact her decision had been the cause of much pain to him. Her position is not that different from Ennis's in his trailer. And she is only 27. Poor girl, I sincerely feel for her.

Offline Verona

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Re: Remember Michelle's Pain
« Reply #4 on: January 28, 2008, 12:07:14 pm »
I always just assumed they'd get back together after taking a little time apart to put their troubles in perspective. Thought this was a given, as it was obvious they belonged together. The poor girl. She not only has to deal with the gut-wrenching loss of the man she loved, but now she has to find some way to explain to a 2-year-old child why daddy will never carry her on his shoulders again. Matilda is not likely to fully grasp the concept for some time, and not without some very painful questions that will hurt every single time they have to be answered. My heart goes out to Michelle. Her loss is incalculable. :-\

Offline Penthesilea

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Re: Remember Michelle's Pain
« Reply #5 on: January 28, 2008, 12:08:58 pm »
Ditto on what Mouk said.
When you seperate it does not necessarily mean you don't love each other anymore (although it might as well be so), or that you stop caring about each other.
Heath and Michelle shared a unique bond, they were parents to Matilda. I always loved that neither of them spoke publicy about the breakup. I think it says a lot about their relationship with each other, as well as about their love and dedication to Matilda.

Poor Michelle  :(

Offline Penthesilea

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Re: Remember Michelle's Pain
« Reply #6 on: January 28, 2008, 12:11:16 pm »
Hi Verona, your post came in just as I was writing mine.

Welcome to BetterMost!

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Re: Remember Michelle's Pain
« Reply #7 on: January 28, 2008, 12:13:16 pm »
I always just assumed they'd get back together after taking a little time apart to put their troubles in perspective. Thought this was a given, as it was obvious they belonged together. The poor girl. She not only has to deal with the gut-wrenching loss of the man she loved, but now she has to find some way to explain to a 2-year-old child why daddy will never carry her on his shoulders again. Matilda is not likely to fully grasp the concept for some time, and not without some very painful questions that will hurt every single time they have to be answered. My heart goes out to Michelle. Her loss is incalculable. :-\

Beautiful post, Verona... Welcome to Bettermost....

Offline Verona

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Re: Remember Michelle's Pain
« Reply #8 on: January 28, 2008, 12:29:26 pm »
Thank you for the welcome. I found my way here from the imdb forum... I stopped posting over there a little over a year ago, it was just too frustrating and I found myself sounding like a broken record. I recognize a lot of names here, I was "norway-jm" over there, BTW.

Sorry to go OT, but I thought it would be rude not to acknowledge your welcoming posts. :)

Offline Kelda

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Re: Remember Michelle's Pain
« Reply #9 on: January 28, 2008, 05:23:50 pm »
Verona - I presumed the same - that they'd end up back together.....
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Offline HerrKaiser

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Re: Remember Michelle's Pain
« Reply #10 on: January 28, 2008, 08:11:38 pm »
One has to realize that when they give something up, it could be forever. Michelle may feel very badly; we don't know. Regret is the worst pain. To break off an engagement with a baby involved must have taken much determination, so she did make a choice...a major one. I hope she finds comfort in Mathilde and whatever she had expected to. My greatest sympathies are to his immediate family; they never let him go, have 28 years of history to mourn over, and cannot replace a son or brother.

Offline adrian

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Re: Remember Michelle's Pain
« Reply #11 on: January 28, 2008, 10:40:35 pm »


Michelle arriving back in New York.
There were only two of them on the mountain flying in the euphoric, bitter air, looking down on the hawks back and crawling lights of vehicles on the plain below....they believed themselves invisible.   A. Proulx

Offline Ellemeno

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Re: Remember Michelle's Pain
« Reply #12 on: January 29, 2008, 03:36:33 am »
Reading again about how Heath went to the hospital with Michelle when she hurt her knee on the toboggan, and that that was the beginning of their love, I remember that it was Pierre Tremblay who suggested the toboggan sequence for the film.  Our Pierre brought them together. 

Offline cmr107

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Re: Remember Michelle's Pain
« Reply #13 on: January 29, 2008, 04:24:37 am »
I was just thinking earlier today that I wanted to go back and read that interview. Thanks for reminding me about that.  :-\

mvansand76

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Re: Remember Michelle's Pain
« Reply #14 on: January 29, 2008, 08:40:50 am »



You know, I realised yesterday what hurts so much about this all.

I watched pictures and videos of two years ago. The Brokeback Glory Days. Nomination after nomination. Award after award. Heath and Michelle looking so much in love. Heath telling everybody how much he adores both his girls. Happiness all around.

BAM! Two years later and everything is gone. Heath and Michelle have broken up. Heath is dead. Matilda is fatherless. The world grieves.

It just makes me feel such intense sadness to think about this.

Poor Michelle.... This must be so hard for her, I can't imagine her grief, not in a million years.



Offline belbbmfan

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Re: Remember Michelle's Pain
« Reply #15 on: January 29, 2008, 12:03:09 pm »
Reading again about how Heath went to the hospital with Michelle when she hurt her knee on the toboggan, and that that was the beginning of their love, I remember that it was Pierre Tremblay who suggested the toboggan sequence for the film.  Our Pierre brought them together. 

Yes! I read that interview too. Heath actually fell on top of her coming of the hill and he ended up going to the hospital with her in Canmore. And to think I nearly ended up in the same hospital with my knee, after I got kicked by that horse...

Heath said in the interview that he felt responsible and he wanted to look after her...*sigh*  :(
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Offline chefjudy

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Re: Remember Michelle's Pain
« Reply #16 on: January 29, 2008, 02:56:47 pm »
 


Quote
Poor Michelle.... This must be so hard for her, I can't imagine her grief, not in a million years.


:( I so agree with you and hope I never have to go through that kind of pain - since little Matilda looks so much
like her daddy, it is (or will be) a constant reminder of Heath, so sad...................... :'(
Judy


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mvansand76

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Re: Remember Michelle's Pain
« Reply #17 on: January 29, 2008, 03:05:12 pm »




:( I so agree with you and hope I never have to go through that kind of pain - since little Matilda looks so much
like her daddy, it is (or will be) a constant reminder of Heath, so sad...................... :'(

Oh God, Judy, yes, she's the spitting image of her daddy, that must be comforting and confronting at the same time.

Offline Shasta542

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Re: Remember Michelle's Pain
« Reply #18 on: January 29, 2008, 10:35:09 pm »


You know, I realised yesterday what hurts so much about this all.

I watched pictures and videos of two years ago. The Brokeback Glory Days. Nomination after nomination. Award after award. Heath and Michelle looking so much in love. Heath telling everybody how much he adores both his girls. Happiness all around.

BAM! Two years later and everything is gone. Heath and Michelle have broken up. Heath is dead. Matilda is fatherless. The world grieves.

It just makes me feel such intense sadness to think about this.

Poor Michelle.... This must be so hard for her, I can't imagine her grief, not in a million years.


So sad. I really thought they'd make it -- at least longer than they did. I guess you never know who can and can't live together. But I still think they loved each other -- if nothing else -- for being parent to Matilda. I hope the last time Michelle talked to him is a good memory for her just for her sake -- it's easier to take that way.
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Offline southendmd

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Re: Remember Michelle's Pain
« Reply #19 on: January 29, 2008, 11:26:14 pm »
One has to realize that when they give something up, it could be forever. Michelle may feel very badly; we don't know. Regret is the worst pain. To break off an engagement with a baby involved must have taken much determination, so she did make a choice...a major one. I hope she finds comfort in Mathilde and whatever she had expected to. My greatest sympathies are to his immediate family; they never let him go, have 28 years of history to mourn over, and cannot replace a son or brother.

How dare you presume to know what either of them felt?  Does their break up upset your sense of family values?

That is the height of arrogance.

Offline AngelaNicole

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Re: Remember Michelle's Pain
« Reply #20 on: January 29, 2008, 11:42:52 pm »
I for one feel so bad for Michelle and Matilda. Heath and Michelle had a very special relationship, and I think they would have gotten back together. He seemed to love her and matilda so much, I think he wanted to make it work. It makes me cry to hear about the story of Michelle falling and hurting her knee, then heath would look after her after that. Sounds like a fairytale romance. Michelle and Matilda will have Heath forever in their hearts and I know Heath wasnt in this world long enough, but they are lucky to have shared the time they did share together. RIP Heath, we love you.

Offline Aloysius J. Gleek

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Re: Remember Michelle's Pain
« Reply #21 on: February 09, 2008, 06:09:19 am »



 :(
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Offline MaineWriter

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Re: Remember Michelle's Pain
« Reply #22 on: February 09, 2008, 10:12:57 am »
One of the news reports described Michelle as distraught, and leaning on the arm of Heath's sister Kate. So sad....

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Re: Remember Michelle's Pain
« Reply #23 on: February 09, 2008, 02:18:07 pm »
 :'( :'( :'( :'( :'( :'( :'(

Poor women, can't begin to imagine their grief...

Offline Mikaela

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Re: Remember Michelle's Pain
« Reply #24 on: February 09, 2008, 05:55:59 pm »
After that' it's been good to see the pictures from the beach when everyone were surrounding Michelle and she was smiling and laughing.

It struck me; when Cate Blanchett spoke at the funeral - she doesn't only have a connection to Heath as a fellow Aussie international movie star and sharing the spotlight with him as incarnations of BobDylan in "I'm not there", there's a link to Michelle as well. Heath and Cate didn't have any scenes together in that film, but Cate *did* have several scenes with Michelle in it. So Cate's presence at the funeral probably was due to her acquaintance and connection with both Michelle and Heath....

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Re: Remember Michelle's Pain
« Reply #25 on: February 09, 2008, 06:10:51 pm »
After that' it's been good to see the pictures from the beach when everyone were surrounding Michelle and she was smiling and laughing.

Those images of them in the ocean are one of the most beautiful and soul-soothing I have ever seen....

Offline MaineWriter

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Re: Remember Michelle's Pain
« Reply #26 on: February 09, 2008, 06:27:36 pm »
Those images of them in the ocean are one of the most beautiful and soul-soothing I have ever seen....

Yes, I agree, Mel.

What a perfect tribute to our beloved Heath.
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Offline LauraGigs

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Re: Remember Michelle's Pain
« Reply #27 on: February 10, 2008, 06:52:30 pm »
One thing that must have been strange:  Gemma Ward was reported to be at the memorial service (the larger one at Penhros College before the private funeral). 
Not to mention his relationship with Mary-Kate Olsen coming out in the press right when he died.  (And Lindsay Lohan a month or 2 before.)

Michelle is credited with being the most significant woman in his life because of the child they have together, and she's permanently tied to his family now, in a good way.  But in addition to all her grief and regret, she probably has some anger to deal with, too.  I don't envy her . . .

 :-\
« Last Edit: February 10, 2008, 08:33:06 pm by LauraGigs »

Offline MaineWriter

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Re: Remember Michelle's Pain
« Reply #28 on: February 11, 2008, 06:01:23 pm »
from People Magazine:


Michelle Williams Back in New York City


Originally posted Monday February 11, 2008 03:15 PM EST

Days after taking a plunge in the ocean following Heath Ledger's wake in Australia, Michelle Williams is back in New York City.

The actress, who had been shooting the film Mammoth before her ex's untimely death, was spotted Monday in SoHo outside the nature store Evolution, where the film is currently shooting. (The store features skeletons, medical posters and other trinkets.)

Over the weekend, Williams and at least 50 other mourners all ran onto the sand – and many of them jumped in the ocean – behind the Indiana Tea House on Cottesloe Beach, the site of the wake and one of Ledger's favorite spots.

Williams, still wearing her sundress, briefly went into the water as everyone cheered.



http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20177471,00.html
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Offline southendmd

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Re: Remember Michelle's Pain
« Reply #29 on: February 11, 2008, 06:05:04 pm »
The look on her face says it all.

Offline opinionista

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Re: Remember Michelle's Pain
« Reply #30 on: February 12, 2008, 09:02:26 am »
One thing that must have been strange:  Gemma Ward was reported to be at the memorial service (the larger one at Penhros College before the private funeral). 

Gemma Ward is from Perth so is very possible she knew Heath way before he was famous. Even if she didn't they probably became friends because both came from the same city, and probably had acquitances in common.

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Offline LauraGigs

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Re: Remember Michelle's Pain
« Reply #31 on: February 12, 2008, 02:23:50 pm »
That could certainly be true.  All accounts have them dating over the Christmas holidays though, and Heath even bringing her by to meet his family.

Point is, he had several girlfriends (at least casual ones) after his breakup with Michelle.  It can't be easy for her to be processing that at practically the same time she's processing his death.

Offline j.U.d.E.

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Re: Remember Michelle's Pain
« Reply #32 on: February 12, 2008, 05:32:15 pm »
Michelle seems so strong! Amazing! She must be turmoil inside though and it's heartbreaking to know that Matilda will ask Michelle many questions about Heath. It will be tough.

I have this stupid thought or fear, that one of those 'acquaintances' of Heath (since his breakup with Michelle), will turn out to be pregnant with Heath's child.. This would be so wrong! But then again, who am I to talk..

It's all too upsetting.

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Offline Fran

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Re: Remember Michelle's Pain
« Reply #33 on: February 17, 2008, 07:32:52 pm »
I'm not sure if this is the right place for this, but here goes:

Michelle William's Last Interview Before Heath Ledger's Death




Offline Artiste

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Re: Remember Michelle's Pain
« Reply #34 on: February 19, 2008, 11:26:30 pm »
Any more news about her?

Michelle and the baby??

Hugs!

Offline j.U.d.E.

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Re: Remember Michelle's Pain
« Reply #35 on: February 21, 2008, 08:47:05 pm »
I found this just now -

--------------------------------------------------------------

Michelle Williams and daughter Matilda in Brooklyn - By Jamey, CBB Contributor -> www.celebrity-babies.com

Actress Michelle Williams, 27, and daughter Matilda Rose, 2, were spotted out for walks yesterday and today in Brooklyn, NY. Yesterday, Michelle and Matilda (navy hat) took a short three-block walk to Victory Cafe with Michelle's mom Carla and some friends. Today Matilda, in the photos with the white hat, and Michelle simply went to grab a coffee.  Click here for Michelle's recent interview with Wonderland. More images available at INF Daily.

Matilda's father is actor Heath Ledger who passed away accidentally on January 22nd at the age of 28.





--------------------------------------------------------------

Many left comments. I think there are more pictures. There's a tribute to Heath as a father to Matilda here - www.celebrity-babies.com/2008/01/tribute-to-cele.html

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Offline nic

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Re: Remember Michelle's Pain
« Reply #36 on: February 21, 2008, 08:57:40 pm »
^ That tribute is lovely! Even though I don't like media over-attention to celebrities' lives I really can't think of any other fathers in the public eye that I have seen such beautiful photos of or heard such lovely quotes from.  The main ones that come to mind are Tom Cruise,Brad Pitt, David Beckham - while it's lovely that they enthuse about their kids too it somehow doesn't seem as natural and honest. 
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Offline j.U.d.E.

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Re: Remember Michelle's Pain
« Reply #37 on: February 21, 2008, 09:06:41 pm »
^ That tribute is lovely! Even though I don't like media over-attention to celebrities' lives I really can't think of any other fathers in the public eye that I have seen such beautiful photos of or heard such lovely quotes from.  The main ones that come to mind are Tom Cruise,Brad Pitt, David Beckham - while it's lovely that they enthuse about their kids too it somehow doesn't seem as natural and honest. 
Very true!

A great many sweet pictures. I like Heath's quote "I'm so proud. I just fall deeper and deeper in love with both my girls." and "Next year my hope is to spend as much time in Australia as possible ... I want to introduce Matilda to the ocean."

It's so sad, but also great to see that Heath had the chance to become a dad before passing away. .. He seemed to be a wonderful father, totally in love and in awe of his daughter. Beautiful.

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Offline Fran

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Re: Remember Michelle's Pain
« Reply #38 on: February 21, 2008, 11:16:27 pm »


Matilda's knit boots are Uggs -- made in Australia!  :)

Offline Kelda

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Re: Remember Michelle's Pain
« Reply #39 on: February 22, 2008, 03:50:27 pm »
gorgeous phots of heath, michelle and matilda there...  :)
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Offline LauraGigs

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Re: Remember Michelle's Pain
« Reply #40 on: February 22, 2008, 07:33:33 pm »
I just hope the paps/tabloids don't continue to hound Matilda.  Heath and Jake are adults, and although you can't blame them for being bothered by it, they did have some idea of what they were getting into as far as intrusion on their fame.  But Matilda is just a toddler.  I get squicked out visiting any site with pap pictures of her.  I know Heath would hate it.

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Re: Remember Michelle's Pain
« Reply #41 on: February 27, 2008, 09:00:03 am »
From the Herald Sun, Australia:

Michelle Williams focuses on work after Heath Ledger

GRIEVING actress Michelle Williams is throwing herself into her work after the death of her former partner Heath Ledger.

Williams flew to Perth for Ledger's funeral last month, plunging into the ocean at one of his favourite beaches as family and friends joyfully celebrated his memory.

Afterwards, she returned with their two-year-old daughter Matilda to New York, where she is shooting the film Mammoth.

Her father, sharemarket guru Larry Williams, today said she was focusing on her work.

"She's wrapped herself up in that and is really focused on that," he said.

Williams spoke outside Sydney's Downing Centre Local Court today, where he is fighting extradition to the US for allegedly evading $A1.9 million in taxes between 1999 and 2001.

He at first refused to be drawn on his daughter's realtionship to Ledger, teling the assembled media: "This is a family thing. We all decided to tell everyone in the media 'no comment'."

However he told The Daily Telegraph exclusively that he heard from his daughter occasionally and revealed that she is "focused on work".

As he spoke in Sydney's summer warmth, Michelle and Matilda - her daughter by Ledger - have been spending time together in the snow in the US.

Sharemarket guru Williams was on bail in Australia when Ledger was found dead in a Manhattan apartment last month.

The Brokeback Mountain star was once engaged to his daughter, actress Michelle Williams, and they had Matilda together.

Williams' long-running extradition case was mentioned briefly today, when Magistrate Pat O'Shane adjourned it to August 12.

She was told Williams should by then know the decision of judges in Australia's High Court on his constitutional challenge relating to extradition.

He and two other men - a Hungarian accused of Nazi war crimes and an alleged Irish fraudster - contend magistrates do not have the power to hear extradition applications unless state parliaments pass legislation giving them that authority.

Williams has been in Australia since his arrest in Sydney in May 2006.

He has been on bail and today told reporters he and his partner had been having "a great time" in Australia, travelling around and spending time with "wonderful friends".

While he wants to return to the US to "clear" the charges against him, he said the authorities there had "put a lot of strange demands" on him despite his efforts at going back voluntarily.

http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,23278311-662,00.html
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Offline Fran

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Re: Remember Michelle's Pain
« Reply #42 on: February 27, 2008, 10:44:00 am »
Michelle Williams is said to be "not close" with her father.  I tend to take everything about Michelle that comes out of Larry Williams' mouth with a grain of salt.  To me, it seems that most of the time, he's just stating the obvious anyway.

I am impressed by the fact that Michelle's mother Carla, who apparently is close to Michelle, manages to keep her mouth shut.  To me, she's a class act.

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Re: Remember Michelle's Pain
« Reply #43 on: February 27, 2008, 01:54:58 pm »
Michelle Williams is said to be "not close" with her father.  I tend to take everything about Michelle that comes out of Larry Williams' mouth with a grain of salt.  To me, it seems that most of the time, he's just stating the obvious anyway.

I was thinking the same thing.

And by the way, what a badly written article that is. Talk about somebody rambling on with no clear idea of what the article is about.

Offline Aloysius J. Gleek

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Re: Remember Michelle's Pain
« Reply #44 on: March 07, 2008, 08:22:53 pm »
From The New York Daily News:

http://www.nydailynews.com/gossip/2008/03/07/2008-03-07_struggles_for_michelle_williamsbefore__a.html


Struggles for Michelle Williams, before & after tragedy

Friday, March 7th 2008, 4:00 AM




A heartbroken Michelle Williams gave a wrenching interview about her breakup with Heath Ledger, less than two weeks before he was found dead in his SoHo apartment on Jan. 22.

"I didn't know where to go," she says in the April issue of Elle about the couple's 2007 split. "I couldn't imagine any place in the world that was gonna feel good to me."

Williams spoke to Elle in Sweden, where she was filming "Mammoth." Matilda, 2, was darting in and out of the interview, wanting Mom to chase her.     

"She's bigger to me than any relationship, bigger than the awards," Williams says of her daughter. "She's what came out of it."

The actress admitted she buried herself in work to avoid thinking about the breakup. "When I have too much free time, that's when things start to get a little messy," she said.

Ang Lee, who directed "Brokeback Mountain," on which the couple met, told the magazine: "They were so sweet together. I ran into Heath at the Venice Film Festival, and he told me about the split. I just felt so sad. I didn't know what to say to him. They made a great effort."

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Re: Remember Michelle's Pain
« Reply #45 on: March 08, 2008, 12:23:32 am »
Interview in January before Heath's death:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23524595/

‘We just need to go away,’ actress says of period right after breakup
Image: Michelle Williams and Heath Ledger
Mark J. Terrill / AP
Actress Michelle Williams said that after her breakup with Heath Ledger, it was work that saved her time and again.

updated 1:13 p.m. AKT, Fri., March. 7, 2008

NEW YORK - In an interview conducted just days before Heath Ledger’s death in January 2008, Academy Award-nominee Michelle Williams opened up about the pain of their breakup.

The actress moved to Portland, Ore., for a film role following her split with Ledger in 2007. Throwing herself into the role of a woman on the precipice of homeless in "Train Choir" was "a very healing process," Williams told Elle magazine’s April issue.

"(Heath and I) had broken up — way before it became a news story — and I didn’t know where to go. I couldn’t imagine any place in the world that was gonna feel good to me," she told the magazine.


Williams took her daughter with Ledger, Matilda, now 2, to Portland as she took on the part in the Kelly Reichardt directed project.

"Right after we broke up, I said, ‘I gotta go do this thing. It’s going to be the perfect place for me, for Matilda. We just need to go away," Williams said. "We made the best friends in Portland. We lived with people, at their house… I just have the fondest memories of being there and playing this lonely, drifting soul."

In telling words, Williams said throwing herself into her acting work, throughout her life, has been a wondrous gift.

"Whatever I’ve suffered, I feel like the work I get to do is an absolute blessing," she said. "Because whatever I feel inside, it has a place to go. It just saves me over and over again."
“Mr. Coyote always gets me good, boy,”  Ellery said, winking.  “Almost forgot what life was like before I got me my own personal coyote.”


Offline Fran

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Re: Remember Michelle's Pain
« Reply #46 on: March 08, 2008, 01:56:35 am »
Thanks for posting the above article, Louise.

BTW, Michelle's name doesn't appear the credits for "Train Choir" AKA "Wendy" over at IMDb.  Maybe it's a very small role.  Still, we'll get to see her in at least three movies:  Incendiary, Mammoth, and, eventually, this one.

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Re: Remember Michelle's Pain
« Reply #47 on: March 08, 2008, 01:09:09 pm »
I just hope the paps/tabloids don't continue to hound Matilda.  Heath and Jake are adults, and although you can't blame them for being bothered by it, they did have some idea of what they were getting into as far as intrusion on their fame.  But Matilda is just a toddler.  I get squicked out visiting any site with pap pictures of her.  I know Heath would hate it.

I'd assume that by the time she's old enough to fully be aware of that, Heath's life and passing will be at least a few years in the past and the paps and tabloids will have long since moved on.

What I'm concerned about (and, I've gotta admit, a bit curious about) is how a parent would tell a child over the years about a parent the kid doesn't consciously remember but whose life has been discussed so publicly. For most people in that situation, any information about the parent would come from family photos, home movies, reminiscenses of relatives and friends, but in this case it would be journalists and fans all over the world.  And really, I don't have any idea how one would handle that.

Offline Fran

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Re: Remember Michelle's Pain
« Reply #48 on: March 13, 2008, 10:38:42 pm »
Here's the first part of the interview with Michelle Williams that's featured in the April edition of Elle magazine.  I read the full article while killing time in a waiting room today, and, I have to tell you, it is a good read.   

BTW, the interview took place three weeks after Christmas, 2007.  Michelle told the interviewer that she and Heath had been broken up for six months.

http://www.elle.com/featurefullstory/13724/michelle-williams-elle-april-2008.html

The Unbearable Lightness of Being

Michelle Williams was born with a gift for acting, a love of books, and an acute sense of self. While filming in Sweden in the weeks before Heath Ledger’s death, the Oscar-nominated actress and young mother opened up about life and love, with amazing grace.

By Holly Millea

She stole the keys. She stole the car. She stole into the night that is already morning on the dashboard clock: 3:26 a.m., 01.09.08. It is too late and too early and too soon to tell if Michelle Williams has pushed her luck. “I’ll take my chances,” the actress says, turning the engine over, breathing warmth into her cupped hands. The snow is falling, the digital seconds flashing, the wipers swiping as a man on the radio sings a twangy country tune, “Goodbye ole paint, I’m a leavin’ Cheyenne…,” cutting the cold, sleeping silence of this Swedish industrial town. In the windows of the dark houses, electric candelabra glow, still burning from Christmas nearly three weeks past.

The black iced road glistens, curving this way and that way, down, down, down the mountain, away from the old Albert Hotel, which has opened especially for her. A mansion dating from 1857, it perches on a cliff above Trollhättan, home to a Saab factory, wondrous waterfalls, and the Gõta Ãlv River, where, local legend has it, large trolls live. Literally translated, Trollhättan is Trolls’ Hood, and the residents are not to be taken lightly. In the midst of their watery stomping ground is Mímir’s Well, owned and operated by Mímir, a Norse deity renowned for his wisdom (and a striking resemblance to Kris Kristofferson). It is said that anyone who drinks from his well has the power to see the future. Odin gave an eye for the privilege, and in peering through Time’s keyhole, he never smiled again.

"I’m obsessed with water,” Williams says. “The scene in Brokeback Mountain when I open the door and see Heath and Jake kiss? Everyone was outside and I was in this hallway by myself, and I just kept thinking, I want to be like water. I want to slip through fingers, but hold up a ship.”

An open bag of Veggie Booty sits between the seats. This would belong to Matilda Rose Ledger, age two. She is named after the Roald Dahl children’s classic Matilda—a girl born of beastly parents but blessed with magical powers that make her feel as if she’s “flying past the stars on silver wings.”

STOP THE CAR. STOP THE CLOCK, the song, the snow. Let's go back to the hotel and look through the keyhole from the other side and see things as they were, see them as they were, before what we now know happened.

There in the Albert's cozy, candlelit front room, Matilda, a dark-eyed, blond, bobbed imp, is working her magic, coaxing a serious, bespectacled waiter named Peter into a smile with her impressive vocabulary, impeccable manners, and a few yoga tricks, ending on her back in straddle splits, with her feet pulled up to her ears. It doesn't take a swig from the well to foretell that Matilda is going to be an actress. Or a Cirque du Soleil star. In the wake of applause, she stands, smooths her beige dress over pale pink tights, and asks, “Mommy, will you chase me now?”

“It's not chasing time, Matilda, it's simmer-down time,” Williams says, scooping her up, kissing her forehead. “Come on, you can watch Wonder Pets in bed before you go to sleep.”

Mother, daughter, and nanny have settled into a suite above the sitting and dining rooms in the hotel. The rest of the cast and crew of Mammoth, the movie she is here shooting, are lodged in an adjacent building. Williams has braved Sweden in the dead of winter to film the relationship drama—as dark and disquieting as the mythical environs—opposite Gael García Bernal. “I'm here for three weeks,” she says, adding with a smile, “any longer than that and I'd have to be medicated.” From the top of the stairs, Matilda calls down, “Peter! Peter! Goodnight Peter!”

With Matilda safe and sound asleep, Williams sits in the dining room, where candles burn on every table and every table is empty. Dressed in black jeans, a button-down shirt, and an argyle sweater, she is boyishly slight. Her features—lips, cheeks, liquid brown eyes—are full. She has only one dimple, there on her right cheek, but what the other cheek lacks, this dimple makes up in depth. Her blond hair is short, in what she considers an awkward growing-out stage, and full of bobby pins. “Bobby pins are my favorite jewelry,” Williams says. “There's nothing sexier than bobby pins.” She gasps suddenly. “That moment in Lolita, when Humbert Humbert is driving into the cow pasture and fingering the bobby pin? Goose bumps!” Even now. Smiling, she pulls up a sleeve revealing her goose-bumped arm.

Her smiles come easily but are complicated, never carefree. “I'm always aware of the whole,” Williams says. “I have that feeling inside, like when something really tickles or delights me—it's not singular. I recognize all the awful things in the world, and in spite of them, I can still laugh.” This hyperawareness has come at a price. “For so long, I felt like a walking open wound everywhere I went,” she says. “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?”

Like extrasensory perception, you either have it or you don't. It's a poignant, painful, and appealing quality that cannot be acted. “Your heart just races to her,” says the director Ang Lee, who cast Williams in her Oscar-nominated role in Brokeback Mountain. “I needed that for the part of the dejected wife—the least interesting, dullest part you can imagine. But Michelle in this role—you want to know what happened in her life, clearly a tragic one. You're never told, but you want to find out.”

It was on Lee's set that Williams and her costar Heath Ledger famously fell in love. “They were so sweet together,” Lee tells me in a January 19 interview, three days before Ledger's death. “I ran into Heath at the Venice Film Festival, and he told me about the split. I just felt so sad. I didn't know what to say to him. They made a great effort.”

“It was so heartbreaking to watch that not work out,” says the director Todd Haynes, calling later the same day. The couple took roles in I'm Not There, Haynes' experimental Bob Dylan biopic, with Ledger as one of six Dylan incarnates and Williams as the Edie Sedgwicky socialite Coco Rivington. “You can't fault either of them. Really, two of the most extraordinary people,” Haynes continues. “True artists, naked and stripped-down as they approach their craft. Different people with different temperatures and rhythms, exploring themselves.”

CHECK OUT THE APRIL ISSUE OF ELLE, ON NEWSSTANDS NOW, FOR THE FULL STORY ON MICHELLE WILLIAMS.