‘I Am’ reveals insights into the life of Heath Ledger
Film explores relationships and his iconic roles
Nine years after his tragic death, Heath Ledger is the subject of a new documentary. Through home videos and interviews with family and friends, I Am Heath Ledger celebrates the life of the Australian actor, who died in 2008 of an accidental overdose of prescription drugs at age 28. The 90-minute movie premieres at New York’s Tribeca Film Festival on April 23 before it opens in select theaters May 3 and airs on Spike on May 17 (10 ET/PT). Six surprising discoveries about the star:
LEDGER HAD AN AUSSIE CRASH PAD IN L.A.
At 19, Ledger moved to the United States to pursue his acting career, quickly finding breakout success in romantic comedy 10 Things I Hate About You in 1999 and period epic The Patriot a year later. But even as his profile rose, he always kept his Australian friends close, welcoming then-unknown actors to live with him and then-girlfriend Naomi Watts.
HE TURNED DOWN SPIDER-MAN.
Ledger started feeling the mounting pressures of fame with his starring role in bigbudget comedy A Knight’s Tale in 2001. Close friends said he was “mortified” by the spotlight, leading him to take riskier roles in dramas Monster’s Ball and The Four Feathers. It was around that time he was considered for the lead in SpiderMan, which eventually went to Tobey Maguire. “He said: ‘That makes no sense for me. I can’t possibly be Peter Parker,’ ” his agent, Steve Alexander, says.
SPARKS FLEW IMMEDIATELY WITH MICHELLE WILLIAMS.
Brokeback Mountain’s closeted gay cowboy Ennis Del Mar was a career-defining role for the actor, who earned an Academy Award nomination for his performance, as did co-star Williams. Director Ang Lee remembers their relationship blossoming on the set in 2004. They welcomed a child, Matilda, in 2005 but split two years later. (Neither Williams nor Matilda is interviewed in I Am.)
BEN HARPER WROTE A LULLABY FOR MATILDA.
IAm devotes much of its time to Ledger’s other creative pursuits. In 2007, he started record label Masses Music with Harper. Harper recounts how Ledger called and asked him to write a lullaby he could sing to his daughter when she was born. “He became more of a dad than an artist,” Harper says.
THERE’S A REASON THE JOKER LICKS HIS LIPS.
Ledger posthumously won the best-supporting-actor Oscar in 2009 for his chilling take on the Joker in Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight. In a voiceover, he explains how he spent six weeks trying to come up with the villain’s now-iconic voice and posture. Ledger also did his own makeup and frequently licked his lips to keep his mouth prosthetic in place, which became a character trait throughout the movie.
HIS DEATH INSPIRED NEW BON IVER MUSIC.
Somewhat frustratingly, I Am skims over the circumstances of Ledger’s death. Instead, the last seven minutes are spent with Ledger’s family and friends as they heart-wrenchingly recount the day he died. Among them was director Matt Amato, who was on the set of Bon Iver’s music video The Wolves (Act I and II) with singer Justin Vernon when he heard the news. The shoot became a “three-day wake,” Vernon says, and ultimately inspired his 2011 song Perth, about Ledger’s upbringing in Australia.