Michelle Williams, Former Fiancée Of Health Ledger

Ledger dies less than 2 years after extolling quiet life in Cdn interview

TORONTO - It was less than two years ago that Australian actor Heath Ledger extolled the virtues of living a quiet life in an interview conducted during the Toronto International Film Festival.

Looking relaxed, the actor - found dead in his Manhattan apartment Tuesday in what police described as a possibly drug-related death - discussed how much he revelled in being a father for the first time. His daughter, Matilda, with actress Michelle Williams, was just a baby at the time.

"I'm up at 5:30 or 6 every morning, and in bed at 9," the actor, dressed casually in jeans, a T-shirt and sneakers, told The Canadian Press. "I get much more done now; I feel more focused. And I actually need to go to bed at 9 now - I feel it in my bones."

Ledger, who was nominated for a best actor Oscar for his moving portrayal of a gay cowboy in the groundbreaking "Brokeback Mountain," was in Toronto in the fall of 2006 promoting his film "Candy." He played a heroin addict in the movie.

"I had no real desire to play a junkie," Ledger said in an interview at a downtown hotel. "But love is very important in my life and it's something I am always interested to find within a story. But I like it to be smuggled or disguised in other backdrops."

Less than a year after the interview, Ledger and Williams split up. In the months since their breakup last August, numerous stories have surfaced not only about Ledger's apparently chilling turn as a malevolent Joker in the upcoming Batman movie, "The Dark Knight," but also on his frequently dishevelled appearance.

Polite, soft-spoken and friendly during the interview, Ledger turned serious when discussing fame, expressing surprise that he was an object of fascination to the public and dismay at the media frenzy surrounding fellow stars like Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt.

"We've tried to cater our lives and our professional lives towards not getting to that place," Ledger said of his life with Williams.

At the time, the couple lived in a modest neighbourhood in Brooklyn, New York, where they did their own grocery shopping, had their neighbours over for dinner and were competing in a "greenest block in Brooklyn" contest.

"I don't need to own a skyscraper and I don't need to fly my own jet," the Aussie actor said. "I don't need all those things so therefore I don't need to get myself in that position, trapped within my own empire. And it is a choice. You choose to get there."

Source: The Canadian Press