Echoing what other friends and co-workers have said about Heath Ledger, Dark Knight star Christian Bale says the late actor was “a joy” to work with.

“You know, I don’t like kind of trivializing the tragedy in conjunction with an interview to do with the movie, which is clearly far less important. But Heath was a joy,” the actor tells Entertainment Weekly. “He really was like that, because he was a very unique man. I enjoyed watching him work, working with him.”

Bale, who plays Batman opposite Ledger’s Joker, says that he appreciated his costar’s professionalism and dedication to the comic book tale.

“What was so great to see with Heath is just how seriously he took it,” says Bale. “And we don’t mean in any way to sound sort of pretentious with that, but just in the fact that if we don’t take it seriously, then how can any audience ever take it seriously? And he did one hell of a job.”

After watching a recent Warner Bros. presentation with clips from the film, which hits theater July 18, Bale added, “It gave me goose bumps throughout, looking at Heath up there. And I just hope that this can celebrate him, celebrate his work.”

WENN

Michelle Williams, Naomi Watts, Ellen DeGeneres and several of Heath Ledger’s other close industry friends share fond memories of the late actor in the April issue of Interview magazine. Written as a conversation, the tribute remembers Ledger’s work ethic, his off-screen persona and his love of chess. Below are some excerpts from the article:

• Naomi Watts: “He was a huge, obsessive, chess freak – and very, very good at it.”

• Michelle Williams: “He had uncontrollable energy. He buzzed … His mind was turning, turning, turning – always turning.”

• Ellen DeGeneres: “He didn’t try to be something that he wasn’t. And I appreciated that.”

• Phillip Seymour Hoffman: “Whenever Heath talked about something he liked, he did it in the way that any fan would. He wasn’t somebody trying to cover up his excitement about something, or someone.”

• Todd Haynes: “That performance in Brokeback Mountain was such a sensitive, understated, controlled interpretation of this character. The entire emotional power of that film, which is enormous, resides in that performance, and how much Heath holds in.”

People

Producers working on Heath Ledger’s final film have vowed not to alter the tragic star’s last performance, even though the actor never got the chance to complete the project before his untimely death.

Work on The Imaginarium Of Doctor Parnassus resumed on Monday after the Brokeback Mountain star’s death halted filming on the project earlier this year.

In his honor, Hollywood superstars Johnny Depp, Colin Farrell and Jude Law have signed up to feature in the film, which is due for release next year.

However, the film’s director Terry Gilliam and its producers have promised to preserve every detail of Ledger’s final performance, and that the hiring of the three new stars will not affect his work.

A statement released by the movie’s producers reads, “Since the format of the story allows for the preservation of his entire performance, at no point will Heath’s work be modified or altered through the use of digital technology. Each of the parts played by Johnny, Colin and Jude is representative of the many aspects of the character that Heath was playing.”

Gilliam adds, “I am delighted that Heath’s brilliant performance can be shared with the world. “We are looking forward to finishing the movie and, through the film, with a modicum of humility, being able to touch people’s hearts and souls as Heath was able to do.”

WENN

Heath Ledger’s family moved quickly to speak out Saturday after details of the late actor’s will were released – showing he had not updated it since his relationship with Michelle Williams and the 2005 birth of their daughter Matilda Rose.

“Matilda is our absolute priority and Michelle is an integral part of our family,” Heath’s father Kim Ledger says in a statement. “They will be taken care of and that’s how Heath would want it to be.”

Ledger’s will – filed in Australia in April 2003, before Williams and before his Oscar nomination for Brokeback Mountain – left everything he owned to his parents and sister, New York’s Daily News reported Saturday. A series of documents filed in Manhattan Surrogate’s Court revealed that the actor had less than $145,000 in New York assets at the time, including a $25,000 Toyota Prius and $20,000 in furniture and fixtures.

Ledger’s rep quickly squashed any speculation that Williams and 2-year-old Matilda would not be provided for. “The story is getting taken out of context and media is speculating that this means Matilda and Michelle will not be taken care of. I want to make it very clear nothing could be farther from the truth.”

Source

When Michelle Williams spoke to Elle magazine in January, she had no idea she’d be faced with the death of her ex, Heath Ledger, only days later on Jan. 22.

At the time, she was still mourning their breakup. “I didn’t know where to go” after their 2007 split, she says in the magazine’s April issue. “I couldn’t imagine any place in the world that was gonna feel good to me.”

Williams, 27, dove into work on several films, because “when I have too much free time, that’s when things start to get a little messy.”

She also naturally focused on Matilda, 2, her daughter with Ledger. “She’s bigger to me than any relationship, bigger than the awards,” Williams says. “She’s what came out of it.”

WENN

Heath Ledger’s last girlfriend Gemma Ward has paid tribute to the late actor in her first interview since his death in January. The Australian model credits Ledger with helping her discover acting, and describes how he always “operated from the heart”.

Ward tells the Sydney Morning Herald, “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 operated from heart. He wasn’t afraid to fight with people, he wasn’t afraid to p**s people off. He told me to always be a punk and stand up for yourself.”

Ledger was found dead in his New York apartment on January 22nd after suffering an accidental drug overdose.

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Federal drug investigators are probing two doctors over the death of actor Heath Ledger, it has been learned.

The doctors – one in California, one in Texas – are believed to have supplied the “Brokeback Mountain” star with the powerful painkillers Oxycontin and Vicodin, law enforcement sources said. Authorities want to know if the drugs were prescribed illegally. “It’s an ongoing investigation,” a law enforcement source told The News Tuesday. “It’s not clear if there was any wrongdoing.”

The revelation came more than a month after the 28-year-old Australian heartthrob’s naked body was found in his SoHo loft.

The city’s medical examiner ruled Ledger died on Jan. 22 of an accidental overdose of six prescription drugs, including the two painkillers, sleeping pills and anti-anxiety medication. The federal Drug Enforcement Administration has subpoenaed the medical examiner’s findings as part of its probe into the doctors, the sources said.