His iconic star dead midway through a $30 million feature, director Terry Gilliam does the only sensible thing: work relentlessly to keep Ledger "alive on film" using computers, pictures and, if absolutely necessary, Johnny Depp. The movie is about magic so everything should work out fine. [People via Observer]
Instruct your assistant to hold all your calls, poor yourself a tumbler of whiskey, and fire up the Bose Wave to ease you into haunting opening strums of Gustavo Santaolalla's "The Wings"—this next one's going to be a little rough. Sources from the New Mexico set of Jake Gyllenhaal's new movie Brothers tell People that the actor is "devastated" since learning of his Brokeback Mountain sharpshooting partner's death:
Studio execs confirm in the WSJ that Heath Ledger's death won't stop a clever Web marketing campaign built around the Joker, Ledger's character in an upcoming Batman movie. The campaign, built around sites such as TheGothamTimes.com and the corresponding TheHaHaHaTimes.com, heavily features the Joker's antics. So does the movie. Don't let that stop you from enjoying either. In interviews before his death, Ledger said the role was challenging, but the most fun he's ever had.
Heavens knows why, but Heath Ledger's impostor dad bet that local TV journalists (from Fox no less) would be as gullible as Scientologst movie stars, and called Fox 5 New York to "dispel... myths and rumors" by saying "mistakes happen," and explaining Ledger would never take his own life. Then he asked for the phone number of Ledger's ex-girlfriend, Naomi Watts (left). Clever, this guy. There's MP3 audio of some of the call. [TMZ]
The medical examiner's office is all dragging its heels and waiting for "the results of blood and tissue tests" or whatever before announcing how Heath Ledger died, but bloggers with various science degrees have figured the whole thing out and posted the truth to the Internet while procrastinating on their life-saving research. Let's start with the "NIH-funded biomedical research scientist" who writes, "[Was] this the result of an addiction to drugs[?] Gasp. Of course it was. Or so suspects the drug abuse scientist anyway." His name is DrugMonkey and he's awesome:
In a shocking development in the Heath Ledger tragedy, the NY Post is reporting that an unidentified con man has been making calls pretending to be Heath's father. Not only did he convince the Manhattan funeral home that held Ledger's body to book him multiple rooms at the Carlysle hotel for him and his "family," he also took advantage of grieving A-list movie stars Tom Cruise and John Travolta. From their report:
A man claiming to be Heath Ledger's father Kim has been trying to scam stars. Weirdly he's been targeting Scientologists like Tom Cruise and John Travolta. (There's always been confusion between the two.) Actually, targeting Scientologists is a pretty genius plan. They clearly fall for bullshit and are quick to part with their money. Of all potential marks the man approached, it was Tom Cruise, the only man who can do anything about anything, who fell for the ruse the hardest. According to the Post, "The hoax began soon after Ledger, 28, was found dead...by the next day, a man claiming to be Kim Ledger managed to get Cruise on the phone, a source said." And guess what? Cruise believed the bullshit! Who would have thought!?!
In this week's New York magazine, Brooklyn resident Samantha Hunt writes, "[Heath] Ledger donned all that was good and laid-back about living here as if it were his best role, the most independent film yet, and we his happy extras." How could man withstand the adoring furtive glances of thousands of Park Slope moms and Cobble Hill dads? It's no wonder he moved to Soho. The move, however, left some Brooklynites wondering what they had done wrong to drive the Ledgster into Manhattan. His death means that the answer to that ridiculous question shall forever be unanswered. But it doesn't prevent them from wrassling with it, in print!
When we last checked in on the status of The Imaginarium Of Dr. Parnassus, the Terry Gilliam joint that featured the final work that Heath Ledger committed to celluloid, the project looked to be in serious jeopardy. However, as we should have all learned by now, it's impossible to underestimate the power of creativity in Hollywood, especially when a $30 million production budget is on the line. According to an interview that Christopher Plummer gave to People (and since when is he on the radar of People, anyway?), the project hasn't been shitcanned quite yet:
Though the lingering fear that the writers strike will render the Oscars nothing more than the most -hyped clip show in show business history caused many to breathlessly bill last night's SAGgies as Hollywood's Only Chance To Throw Itself A Proper, Self-Congratulatory Orgy, we watched the ceremony without any of that unpleasant baggage, choosing to enjoy the show for what it is: two hours of attractive people throwing themselves a big party to publicly celebrate how amazing it is to get paid millions of dollars to prove their disappointed parents and nay-saying high school drama teachers wrong.
Here is the 'In Memoriam' segment that ran at last night's Screen Actor's Guild Awards. Note the really, really famous death at the very end. Note how tacked-on and awkward it seems. Consider then that whoever puts this little montage together had nearly a week to re-edit the footage to seamlessly include Mr. Ledger. Instead, following an unnecessary From Here to Eternity clip, we get a brief, silent (no music even) shot of him and an abrupt cut to commercial. Not that these 'In Memoriam' bits are all that important, but this was just bad.
At this year's version of the Oscars, the striking-writers-approved Screen Actors Guild Awards, winner Tina Fey said she had the acting skills of a "hat rack," Tom Cruise gave a surprisingly non-creepy speech and Best Actor Daniel Day Lewis stole the show with some kind words for Heath Ledger, to whom Lewis dedicated his Best Actor Award. Video of Lewis' words for Heath, along with the winner of SAG's "Biggest Jerk" award, after the jump.
The New York Post claimed yesterday that police were looking to interview Mary-Kate Olsen about the death of her friend, Australian actor Heath Ledger. Police spokespeople and the tabloid's competitors, including Gawker, may have been too quick to rubbish the line of inquiry. Today, The Post ups the pressure with a set of questions unanswered the hard-partying actress: "Why did she send her bodyguards to the scene? Why didn't she tell the masseuse who found Ledger's body to call 911? Why did she think her security guards could help in a medical emergency?" But there's more: an eyewitness account to be published in tomorrow's Sunday Telegraph, in Australia, claims Mary-Kate Olsen's bodyguards entered Heath Ledger's building three minutes before the arrival of paramedics at 3.33pm, not simultaneously, as previously reported. Which begs another question. The police discovered a wide array of prescription drugs in the Brokeback star's apartment, but no illegal substances. Would Olsen's bodyguards have had time, or instructions, to remove any embarrassing evidence? (TMZ.com sources still maintain police were present at all times one of Olsen's bodyguards was present. Hunh?)
People Magazine has confirmed our Gawker Stalker reports: Mary-Kate Olsen was indeed partying on the Lower East Side on Thursday night, The former child star was a friend of Heath Ledger, and the first person called after the actor's body was found dead. But the diminutive star was not so devastated by his death to alter her social schedule. [Photo from Splash.]
· Wait a minute: Did Ryan Seacrest think he was giving Ellen a dildo in a fun little gift bag? Oh, that's just a bingo stamper, and not a Big Blue Violator? What a silly mix-up! An honest mistake, really.
· Mona Lisa with a shoulder-mounted rocket launcher would've made a much better Rambo poster.
· Mary-Kate Olsen's thought process upon receiving that fateful call from the masseuse, in flowchart form.
· "Those pigs were about 400 pounds each, and there were four of them. I was tied pretty tight into that pigpen by my neck and my hands, and my mouth was gagged. At one point while we were filming one of the pigs broke through the fence and actually came right at me. I was freaking out, and they were rushing in to try to get me out, and of course Sly is in the background yelling, 'Keep the cameras rolling!'"
Thanks, health and public policy journalist Maia Szalavitz, for finally writing some Heath Ledger News We Can Use. Her service-y piece for HuffPo is called "What We Can Learn from Heath Ledger's Death: Don't Mix Downs!!!" In a perfect world, it would run in the crappy health section of every major Sunday paper, instead of "TEARFUL CHILD THANKS DEAD ORGAN DONOR" or whatever. Here's how to avoid dying like Heath Ledger:
I know you've been dying to know what Britney Spears has to say on the whole Heath Ledger hullabaloo. Well, she's finally weighed in and her statement is as sad, telling, and oddly beautiful as one could hope. When asked about the young actor's death she says, while sitting in her car and lighting a cigarette, in a strange British-ish accent, "He's still here. No one ever really dies." If you care to, it's about a minute into this TMZ clip. The rest of the video is pretty existential too. Sigh. [TMZ]
