Holding daughter Matilda, Michelle Williams arrived in Perth, Australia, Wednesday for Heath Ledger’s funeral.

Sources say it is her love for their 2-year-old daughter that is providing the strength as she mourns the late actor’s untimely death.

“Michelle was always really vulnerable, so this has shaken her quite a bit,” a friend of Williams tells Us Weekly in its latest issue, on newsstands now. “She’s mourning and trying to figure out what to do next.”

Matilda, though, “is too young” to know the heartbreaking reason why her father isn’t around anymore.

“Michelle and the family are showering Matilda with love right now to cushion it so she isn’t really aware,” a source close the family tells Us Weekly in the newest issue.

The source adds: “Michelle basically told Matilda, ‘Daddy went away.’ Matilda still doesn’t grasp it.”

Matilda, who was often seen around New York City on Ledger’s shoulders before his shocking January 22 death, “looks just like her father,” a friend close to Williams told Us.

Her mother agrees.

“All that I can cling to is his presence inside her that reveals itself every day,” Williams, 27, said in a statement Friday. “His family and I watch Matilda as she whispers to trees, hugs animals and takes steps two at a time, and we know that he is with us still.”

That is so sad.

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Michelle Williams is speaking out for the first time since ex Heath Ledger’s untimely death January 22.

“Please respect our need to grieve privately. My heart is broken,” Williams, 27, said in a statement released on Friday by Ledger’s rep, Reuters reports.

“I am the mother of the most tender-hearted, high-spirited, beautiful little girl who is the spitting image of her father,” Williams continued in her statement.

“All that I can cling to is his presence inside her that reveals itself every day.

“His family and I watch Matilda as she whispers to trees, hugs animals, and takes steps two at a time, and we know that he is with us still.

“She will be brought up with the best memories of him,” Williams’ statement concluded.

When Williams first learned about his tragic death, “she cried and screamed as soon as she heard,” a source on the Swedish set of her latest film, Mammoth, reports.

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Michelle Williams’ rep is hitting out at reports that she once forced Heath Ledger to go to rehab.

“Much of the tabloid reporting is inaccurate,” Williams’ rep Mara Buxbaum said. “This fabricated story of Michelle Williams attempting to bring Heath Ledger to rehab is just one lie among many. The speculation is heinous. Let this family grieve privately.”

I agree 100% with Michelle’s rep, let the family grieve in private already. It’s adding insult to injury by going on about his alleged drug use.

The filming of Michelle Williams’ next movie, Blue Valentine, has been placed on hold giving the actress time to cope with the tragic death of her ex, Heath Ledger.

“We will hold off until she is ready,” says a source connected with the film. “The production is in the process of sorting it out in respect to her.”

The movie – a relationship drama centered around a young couple struggling with their marriage – also stars Ryan Gosling, who Williams was rumored to be dating after they were spotted strolling together in New York before the holidays.

Production on the film was set to start on February 25, but has been moved back to an indefinite date.

“We’re hoping she will still come back and do the film and are happy to wait,” the source says. “The film is tailor made for those two so of course we would want to wait. You can’t get much better than them.”

Williams had just finished shooting her last scene in the film “Mammuth” in Sweden when she received the news of Ledger’s death.

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If you want to see the 2 pictures, they’re after the jump! (more…)

Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams share the honor of being recent Oscar nominees. But are they sharing a bit more these days?

The actors, both 27, were spotted walking along Bleecker Street in New York’s Greenwich Village on Tuesday night, stopping for some photos with fans near Sullivan Street.

Gosling, a nominee for Half Nelson, was back in New York after running into Heroes actress Hayden Panettiere – and exchanging numbers – at a restaurant in L.A. over the weekend, according to the New York Daily News. Gosling recently split with actress Rachel McAdams.

Williams, an Oscar nominee for Brokeback Mountain, is also recently single, she split with Heath Ledger, with whom she has a 2-year-old daughter, Matilda.

The actors’ reps did not return calls for comment.

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Heath Ledger and Michelle Williams have split, Us Weekly can confirm.

A source close to the couple tells Us that Heath and Michelle “quietly and amicably split a few weeks ago.”

“The relationship had been rocky recently. They tried very hard to make it work but finally decided to separate. They just grew apart.”

The couple, who live in Brooklyn, NY and have a daughter, Mathilda, 23 months, met on the set of Brokeback Mountain.

“They have a beautiful daughter and they are both committed to being great parents.”

Reps for the couple could not be reached.

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