Heath Ledger’s ‘home movies’ suggest the young actor was in a positive place prior to his death
THE director of a new documentary about Heath Ledger is convinced the actor’s death was an accident, despite his reflections on his own mortality.
THE director of a new documentary about Heath Ledger is convinced the actor’s death was an accident.
“I never got any dark, foreboding sense that he thought he would not be here for long,’’ says Derik Murray, after trawling through hours and hours of Ledger’s own “home movie” footage as well as more behind-the-scenes material shot by friends.
Ledger did speak to friends about dying young, but the filmmaker explains these conversations as the intimate confidences of a sensitive young artist, noting that it’s not uncommon for a new father to reflect upon his own mortality.
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“And as we share with you from family and friends (including production partner Matt Amanto, manager Steve Alexander and musician Ben Harper), at the end of his life he was absolutely excited and positive. He had so much going on that he was proud of,” he said.
“This was a prescription medicine overdose — the wrong combination and quantities led to his demise.
“The scary thought about that is that it’s not that unusual.”
According to Murray, who co-directed the documentary with Adrian Buitenhuis, 15-20,000 people die from prescription drug overdoses in the US each year.
“It’s a tragic problem that we as a society have to take a closer look at.”
I Am Heath Ledger discusses the actor’s long-term insomnia.
His mates say middle-of-the-night phone calls were a regular occurrence.
Harper and Alexander recall how the actor would turn up on their respective doorsteps at 6am, inviting himself over for breakfast.
Murray also acknowledges that Ledger was struggling with his own personal demons at the time of his death on January 22, 2008, at the age of 28, following his separation from Michelle Williams.
And that he was suffering anxiety about not having his daughter Matilda close by.
And friend and dialect coach Gerry Grennell, who shared accommodation with Ledger on the set of his last film, The Imaginarium Of Dr Parnassus, says he talked to the young actor about the dangers of mixing of prescription drugs.
But everybody interviewed, including father Kim Ledger, mother Sally Bell, sisters Kate, Olivia and Ashleigh and Ledger’s mates from school, are adamant that he was in an essentially good place at the time of his death.
I Am Heath Ledger is primarily a celebration of the life of the extraordinarily prolific actor, who began documenting his journey to stardom from a very young age.
“We used to say in the edit suite that Heath Ledger was a co-director on this movie,” says Murray.
“I have never been involved in a project that had so much (existing) content.”
Williams’ blessing for the project was critical, says Murray, but her appearance on camera was not.
“She chose not to give an interview, which was fine. It’s probably too soon. And that might never change.”
I Am Heath Ledger screens in cinemas across Australia from next Thursday (March 11) for one week only.
