Sixteen years after Heath Ledger‘s death in 2008, director Stephen Gaghan has shared new details about the “really sad” moment he heard the news.
On a recent podcast, Gaghan, who at the time was working with Ledger on a film adaption of Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking, revealed the actor’s father, who he hadn’t met before, broke the news to him over phone while still at the scene.
“They were there with the body and our script was in bed with him, and your book was on the bedside table,” Gaghan told Malcolm Gladwell on the Revisionist History podcast.
Listen to the audio above.
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“I think my number was on the script, like written. These guys, as you can imagine, they are in shock and they dialed that number and I don’t know why,” he said.
“I’m in an airport with my wife [Minnie Mortimer] just going from one place to another, and I literally just collapse, never happened to me before or since.
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“My feet went out from under me. I just literally sat down because I was like, ‘What?'”
“The emotion, what they were going through, I should not have been a party to in any way really, and yet as a human or as somebody who just cares, I just was there and I was listening and my wife was looking at me,” Gaghan continued.
“I remember her face and I was just like, I was speechless. I just listened and listened and listened. It was just really, really sad. And it’s still sad. For me, I just had to put a pin in it.”
Ledger died on January 22, 2008 from an accidental overdose. He was 28.
Before his death, the Aussie actor had risen to fame in films including Brokeback Mountain, and his most recent role in The Dark Night.
After his death, Ledger was recognised posthumously at the 2009 Oscars for his performance as the Joker, for which he won the best supporting actor category.
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The actor became well known for starring as the romantic love interest in 10 Things I Hate About You.
Speaking to 9Honey Celebrity 20 years after the film premiered, his co-star Julia Stiles remembered Ledger as “a magnetic person, larger than life.”
“I’m so honoured that I was a part of a thing that brought him to audiences all over the world,” the actress said.