MATILDA’S SECRET FATHER
Michelle Williams has revealed Succession star Jeremy Strong stepped in to be a surrogate father to her now-16-year-old daughter Matilda after her dad Heath Ledger’s sudden death in 2008.
“Matilda didn’t grow up with her father, but she grew up with her Jeremy and we were changed by his ability to play as though his life depended upon it, because hers did,” says the former Dawson’s Creek star of her daughter, who was just two when the Aussie actor died of an accidental overdose aged 28.
“Jeremy was serious enough to hold the weight of a child’s broken heart, and sensitive enough to understand how to approach her through play and games and silliness,” Michelle shares.
The 41-year-old mum, who moved her pal into her New York home, along with her sister and another friend, to help with raising Matilda, says Jeremy, 43, was a big fan of horsing around.
“He had only one sweater and two T-shirts, and they were torn at the neck because he would play ponies with my daughter, and let her ride on his back and use his clothing as reins,” recalls Michelle, who’s just revealed she’s now expecting her third child – her second with husband Thomas Kail, 44, with whom she shares son Hart, who was born in 2020.