❧❧❧ Whatever you can do or dream, you can BEGIN IT. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it. Goethe ❧❧❧
❧❧❧ You were born whole, not broken. Sandra Hammel ❧❧❧
The best acting is done, not with words but organically, from the integrity of the actors spirit. Heath was a master at this. He acted with his heart. I am amazed anew each time I watch him in The Four Feathers and Candy. And Brokeback too, but read on and you will see why this video had to omit any video from BBM. Movies included: Mostly Candy The Four Feathers But also: A Knight's Tale Brokeback Mountain
I'm Not There was removed from the original because it didn't flow well. It was hard to cut it, but if you edit, you will understand.
Music Credits: Composers: Jud Friedman, Allen Rich, James Newton-Howard For the First Time ProSound Karaoke Band
The Most Beautiful Thing You Ever Said Was When Your Eyes Rested in Mine ~ Sandra Hammel
Concentration on eyes, body language, movement, artistic lines and face expressions were used to make this video.
Suggestion: Watch in your screen's full size -- just click on the four cornered arrows at the bottom right of the youtube video screen for this video. Or watch in 480 p. If you double click on the video, it will take you to youtube, so you can see it on a bigger screen.
No Brokeback Mountain This has been redone from the original which was banned in the USA, but viewable everywhere else on planet Earth. The problem was due to Brokeback Mountain clips that I used (NBC Universal). This time I removed all BBM movie clips and replaced the clips with stills. Not as good, but allowed everywhere.
It is obvious that this work was in my early days of learning how to do videos. It made it difficult to make a better video out of the finished video. And I am sorry about the different sizes of video within the video. So, this is a compromise -- some improvements, but still a little rough in concept. I simply chose some exceptional scenes that I love, especially from Candy and The Four Feathers.
The original version of October 11, 2009, that the USA couldn't and still can't see.
HEATH LEDGER ~ THE FOUR FEATHERS ~ TRIBUTE TO FRIENDSHIP, COURAGE AND INTEGRITY ~ BROKEN ARROW One of my favorite videos of my own:
I especially connected with Heath's statement: 'Cause for me, like, what a success is is, I mean the only time that I'm alive, and living and expressing and feeling, and, and relating is, is, is when I'm on set and that time between action and cut and so that's the only thing that's really important is how that experience is, and, and how that experience will affect my life and what I have to give from my life to that experience. (Transcribed from the interview of December 3, 2007 - links just below. Heath was talking about "Brothers Grimm" and working with director Terry Gilliam in this excerpt.)
Links to the "Beyond the Subtitles" - December 3, 2007 - Heath's interview with Stephen Schaefer:
I am thrilled to have two musicians that have given me permission to use their music. This makes life much better. I could make videos every day. I just love doing it. Unfortunately, I do it for free.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Genocide will not end until enough people pressure our elected officials to take a stand
You know one of the sweetest things I noticed about Heath and when he had a woman companion was that he loved to hold their hands. I just loved that.
The Four Feathers' Director, Shekhar Kapur
On January 22, Friday, I went to Shekhar Kapur's blog to see if he had posted anything this year about Heath. And at the time I was there, he hadn't yet, so I put my comment at last year's anniversary date of Heath's passing:
Two years ago this date we lost you to immortality. The hurt is no less today.
Tonight, I thought I would check back at his blog - at 3:55 a.m. - I know it's late, but I just did something that was...well, a difficult for me...I played keyboard and sang in front of a full house...only two songs, but still, it is probably the one thing in my life I have put off doing until very late in my life, because it frightens me so much, but I want to do it. I just get stage fright when singing. Most everyone else had other people on stage with them. That would have been so much easier than going solo. But yesterday and today, I tried to give myself focus with little thoughts to get me where I needed to be. Trying to have fun, even if I couldn't be perfect - was one of the many thoughts I wrote down on an index card.
And I thought of my Spirit Guide....I'll just leave that at that for now. And I thought of my dad and Heath. My dad and Heath are in their spirit states and hopefully have met each other there. My dad liked to hear me sing. That is what I did on the phone many miles away from him and when I finished singing the song, he took his last breath. My voice was the last thing he heard and I was singing one of his favorite hymns to him. I have written about this before in a few posts.
I couldn't mourn Heath on his two year anniversary too much, because I had this creative thing to focus on. And probably Heath would be okay with me opting to do a creative thing as opposed to sitting around moping. So I lit candles last night for me to get support in my efforts to sing, for Dad to listen tonight to me singing, for Heath, for my son and for the Darfuris.
Well, anyway, Shekhar did have this post up when I checked tonight. Here it is:
Heath Ledger, have two years passed?
January 22, 2010, 6:47 p.m.
It's 5.20 am and am struggling to sleep in my hotel room in San Hose. Jet lag ? No, something else is nagging me - and then it comes like a bolt, a sudden sharp, almost physical feeling of sadness. It Heath's 2nd Anniversary of his passing.
For those that know this blog, will know of my special relationship with Heath. Well, that survives time. Even through the sadness and heavy heart I sense him laughing and smiling almost looking down and saying "Get on with it, Mate !"
Lots of other things come to mind. What do two years mean ? What does passing of time mean ? How little or more have I achieved in the last two years. How productive have I been - and all this on context of Heath's passing as if time stopped there and started again ? Is what you have done, or what has happened, or the events that have taken place since the only measure of time ? Or is there something far more eternal about time ?
Tonight I am going to LA and having dinner with Orando Bloom. The last time we met was in Heath's friend's pad in Melbourne, where Heath was proudly showing a rough cut of Four Feathers to all his friends. So proud was he of his performance in a film that actually did very little at the box office.
So I am just going to look up at Heath's smiling face and say "Hey, Mate ! We are still down here trying undersatnd it all" Trying to imitate his broad Australian drawl.
................................................................ Uploaded by lovemylifesblog
Click on the post's title to read another blog post of Shekhar's about Heath
Some of my other thoughts written down to focus for my performance:
Replace worrying about what might go wrong with thoughts: Let it happen. Accept that it's a in-the-moment-thing. Can't control it. Muscle memory will kick in. Let the music in and and it will come out. Peace came with all this in last weekend's performance.
Why be afraid of them? They only want what you know is inside you, what you have to give. Your destiny is to be who you are. Not to withhold it..right? If not the "whole" - just a glimpse of it. Music - let it guide you; let the music use you; listen to each note, rhythm. You're going to make mistakes anyway, so make them while relaxed and having fun and breathing. SURRENDER. Relax, Spirit is with you. Help me with my destiny. If this is my calling, help me relax, have peace in the doing, in the being. Help me relax in the music.
And on the other side of the index card it this: Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous? Actually, who are you, not to be? You are a child of the Universe. Your playing small doesn't serve the world. We were born to make manifest that which is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.Mostly by Marianne Williamson in Return to Love- I changed a little of the wording to better suit my beliefs
............................................... A Knight's Tale Premiere Uploaded by Monicabbm
................................................. ................................................. Heath touched us and moves us still Uploaded by Monicabbm
I just trotted over to the candle site to light today's candle and as I was writing a message I started crying and sobbing. How could he just stop like that? How could someone so full of life and generosity and wisdom and sweetness just cease to be? I don't cry as much as I used to, but when I do it's still with the same sad puzzlement and loss.
If I were elsewhere I'd apologise for the sudden little outburst but I know everyone here will understand.
**********************************************
My response
Ahh, M......I want to thank you for letting me know what your signature is about. I have been lighting candles for several things and people. And my first candle that I lit for Heath has burned out, so I just followed your lead and lit another for him just now.
Today, I had my 19 year old neighbor girl help me out and she ended up staying the entire afternoon with me at the coffee house where I was singing...when we returned home her family wasn't home and so I brought her back to the house and we shared a pizza and I introduced her to Heath....first on some of my youtube tributes and then I put in the Sweet Bridget episode of Roar. At first sight of Heath on the tv screen, she said "he is cute! - the one behind." I said, yes he is....then she had to listen to me talk about Heath. Explaining he is gone...what happened...that he is the same one I had just showed her on my The Four Feathers youtube tribute and Ten Things I Hate About You . I told her "Maybe, you would like to go to the movie Dr Parnassus with me". She agreed. She loved Sweet Bridget.
When we had walked in the door this evening, I played back a message on my answer machine - so she and I listened together. It was Richard from Avon Cinema, which I had called a couple of weeks ago now to inquire when exactly The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnasssus was coming to Providence, Rhode Island. He called to tell me....it is tentatively scheduled to open January 8, 2010, but told me to "call that week or day of - to see if it does show up".
Just a Heath experience....that I shared with someone who never knew of him...and now she does. I even took her over to the candle page for Darfur I had created....she loved it there.
So, we pass on who we are and share the things and lovely people who touch us. In that way it is a beautiful world.
I just love sharing. And hope you understand the joy that it brings to me to share about Heath, whether it be with Krista, my young neighbor girl, or you at the forum or on my blog, where I so often do.
The following is from we are the masses Making "King Rat" by Daniel Auber
"When Heath asked me to collaborate on this video I found it more than just a good cause, I was incredibly happy to have that first experience of he and I sitting by a desk and giving life to something together....
...My favourite memory on this video is very far from its shocking and distinctive taste. It's quite cheesy, actually: whilst we spent long days working on the animatic, listening endlessly to interrupted bits of Isaac's haunting and cavernous voice, there was another song being played constantly coming from outside the window.
It wasn't annoying us because its paradisiac nature was having a complementary effect on us. It was Israel Kamakawiwo'ole's version of Somewhere Over The Rainbow. Every time I randomly hear that song, I think of how lucky I was to be over there for a few wonderful weeks."
Some are born with a gift to shine a light for the rest of us to touch, connect to and receive their radiant beauty. Heath was one.
I love The Four Feathers...I just discovered it recently. I am moved by it and specially so by Heath in it.
"...And these for whom life has no repose, live at times in their rare moments of happiness with such strength and indescribable beauty, the spray of their moment's happiness is flung so high and dazzingly over the wide sea of suffering, that the light of it, spreading its radiance, touches others too with its enchantment..." Hemann Hesse STEPPENWOLF I love this quote and use it as a tribute to those like Heath who transcend the average and lift us up where our souls belong.
Some can move us for all time in just moments. Heath is one. In vital ways, he remains with us. A gift from Life and for our souls. Enriched by seeing in him, our own selves. We are all just a part of the whole of Life. Something about what Heath was able to present turned on a vibrancy in our own inner glow and light. He makes me feel more alive still. Sadness is there, too. But death doesn't end our feelings or relationships with those whose mortal bodies no longer inhale and exhale.
We are blessed by having lived when Heath was here.
Thank you, Shekhar for bringing us The Four Feathers. It stays with me. And in this transient world, that is an act of grace. I am grateful for the arts. For in them we humans can radiate and share our best selves.
It is lovely to share here and read the hearts speaking by all who have taken the time to write.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
As you can see, feelings run deep for Heath and how he touches me.
Heath as Harry Feversham Photo credit: Arethusa33 as watermarked
Picture from The Four Feathers Photo credit is unknown I always give credit when known
Sorry about all the varied fonts.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Heath Ledger ~ The Four Feathers ~ Tribute Much better quality of video atFacebook than Youtube, but you have to go toFacebook, I guess, because here the quality seems comparable to me. Here is a link to it at Facebook and to a bigger picture: www.facebook.com/video Let me know what you think...
Who else is gonna bring you a broken arrow Who else is gonna bring you a bottle of rain There he goes moving across the water There he goes turning my whole world around
Do you feel what I feel Can we make it so that's part of the deal I gotta hold you in these arms of steel Lay your heart on the line this time
I wanna breathe when you breathe When you whisper like that hot summer breeze Count the beads of sweat that cover me Didn't you show me a sign this time
Who else is gonna bring you a broken arrow Who else is gonna bring you a bottle of rain There he goes moving across the water There he goes turning my whole world around, around
Do you feel what I feel Do you feel what I feel Ah can you see what I see Can you cut behind the mystery I will meet you by the witness tree Leave the whole world behind
I want to come when you call I'll get to you, if I have to crawl They cant hold me with these iron walls We got mountains to climb, to climb
Who else is gonna bring you a broken arrow Who else is gonna bring you a bottle of rain There he goes moving across the water There he goes turning my whole world around Turning my whole world around Turning my whole world around Turning my whole world around
This is the video I started days ago. By that, I mean, finding a song and movie the would get worldwide access on Youtube. Last night, as I stayed up to "watch" Rafa play in the Shanghai Final (I didn't really watch it with my usual concentration, although it was on another window on my MAC as I worked in iMovie). I was too interested in my video with Heath Ledger and Rafa, well, was a bit outplayed last night. Or should I say today, since it was Sunday in China.
Rafa lost to Nikolay Davydenko who played well. Davydenko chose to receive first...something players all know about Rafa is that Rafa always has elected to receive when he has the choice. Most players, when they have the choice, elect to serve. So, I think players sometimes do this with Rafa to try to throw him into a discomfort zone.
Not that it made the difference. I am sure. Rafa never has an excuse.
Nikolay won in straight sets. 6-7(3), 3-6
Rafa had some great shots. Nikolay just played better, I think, in my limited viewing and listening to the sportscasters.
And now, about my video of Heath and The Four Feathers
Whatever glitches there are in this youtube, I apologize.Truly.However, it played smoothly at iMovie, as well as on Quick Time before I uploaded it at Youtube.
The Four Feathers is one of my favorite movies.I admire and adore Heath Ledger’s acting.And I so very much like the story and the writing.In this video, I concentrate on Harry’s (Heath's) special angel or spirit guide, Abou Fatma, played by the superb actor, Djimon Hounsou, Jack Durrance played by the outstanding actor, Wes Bentley.And I also concentrate on his other friends that Harry tries so hard to help, while they serve in the Royal Cumbrians. And of course, I focus a lot on Heath's Harry. So this is about friendship, loyalty, integrity and the journey Harry courageously took.The writer Michael Schiffer says it is also about redemption.I suppose it is, as Harry feels he must redeem himself.But to my mind, he had no need for redemption because of the reason that he didn’t want to go to war. Made sense to me.
When I made this video, I tested the song first by posting privately.
Then I tested The Four Feathersprivately.
Both worked, then I proceeded.I learned my lesson previously with a Rod Stewart song which Warners Music Group rejected.I had Rod’s CD with Broken Arrow on it and selected the song, then went on the search to find an artist that doesn’t ban use on Youtube. I also learned a lesson with Brokeback Mountain - apparently watched over by NBC Universal.
Support artists and companies that don’t ban use on Youtube.
Links are provided below for the music and the movie used in this Youtube video.
Robertson was born to a Jewish father and a Mohawk mother and took his stepfather's last name after his mother remarried. He had his earliest exposure to music at Six Nations of the Grand River First Nation, where he spent summers with his mother's family.
This is a wonderful video. My heart sunk when I saw the picture at the beach. I became a Heath Ledger loving fan this year. Even in death, Heath reaches out and grabs hearts and souls. Bless him.
Those of us who feel Heath's radiant spirit and know that his eyes expressed his soul ~ share a special awareness of beauty.
Wes Bentley who co-starred with Heath in The Four Feathers expresses himself about Heath in this article as well as:
Terry Gilliam, Director of Brothers Grimm and The Imaginarium and Doctor Parnassus, Marc Forster, director of Monster's Ball, Todd Black producer of A Knights Tale, Donna Morong, the casting director of Ten I Hate About You, Gil Yunger, director of Ten Things, Steve Alexander, agent, Mel Gibson, Catherine Hardwicke, director of The Lords of Dogtown, Diana Ossand, screenwriter of Brokeback Mountain, James Schamus, producer of Brokeback, Rodrigo Prieto, cimematographer of Brokeback, Nicola Pecorini, friend and cinematographer, Gary Oldman, Emma Thomas both of The Dark Knight, Charles Roven of TDK and Brothers Grimm.
Alexander: Sony asked me to come over and read the script for Spider-Man. It was going to be a really cool tentpole movie. But as soon as I said Spider-Man, Heath said, ''It's not for me. I would be taking someone else's dream away.'' He never second-guessed his decisions or said ''what if'' — which was amazing, because I certainly did!
Marc Forster, director, Monster's Ball: When he read the script, Heath said, ''Look, I get this character. I totally understand him. I'll come down there and breathe in that world.'' He wanted to try something different, something where the movie wasn't resting on his shoulders. The one thing he said was, ''I'm not going to participate in the promotion of the movie. I’m just going to come in and focus on the acting.''
Alexander:Monster's Ball (pictured) definitely did some heavy lifting for him. A lot of important filmmakers and studio executives saw him in a different way after that movie. It achieved exactly what we wanted it to in terms of stripping away the shininess of a leading man.
By 2004, Ledger's career momentum had slowed following a series of critical and financial flops: the period epic Four Feathers(pictured), the Australian Western Ned Kelly, and the horror film The Order.
Alexander: Heath was going through growing pains. He wasn't really going forward, he wasn't really falling back — it was just kind of a push. He was getting more experience, but the movies weren't working. He said he was sort of tearing his career down so it could be built back up the right way.
Bentley: Heath didn't give himself enough credit for his talent as an actor. He didn't know what he had so he decided to enjoy what was being offered to him. I wanted to explain to him, ''Please wake up to how great you are.'' He didn't have any classical training. He didn't have anyone making him feel like he had credibility. The only voice he listened to was his own self critic, because it was the loudest.
Alexander: Heath generally backed out of almost every movie that he did. He would say yes to something and then he really started thinking about it and it would spin him out. He'd go away and he'd tinker and play and then we'd have a conversation several weeks later and he'd say, ''I got it. I figured it out.''
Terry Gilliam, director, The Brothers Grimm: [Cinematographer] Nicola Pecorini was working on The Order, and he called me and said, ''This kid is extraordinary. He's fearless.'' I went out to L.A. and met Heath and just liked him immediately. As we were talking, he was constantly jiggling around. I was like, ''That's great — you've got to keep that.'' He just had this incredible energy that was intense but very vulnerable at the same time. Heath was determined to be his own man, despite his success. Johnny Depp was someone he really admired. I introduced them at the Toronto Film Festival. Johnny has a good sense of competition. Right from the start, he was just, like, ''Ooh, this guy — watch out!''
Black: Heath was the pied piper. If you were sad, he took care of you. If you were happy, he made you happier just by dancing or talking or laughing. Fear didn't enter his psyche. He would say whatever was on his mind. If he didn't like you, you would know it, and if he liked you, you would know it.
Gilliam: He was a very old soul. When we were in Prague doing Grimm, there was one night we went to see this gypsy band. Somehow his age came up in conversation. At that time, Matt Damon was 32, and I always felt Heath was the same age, if not older. He said, ''I'm 24.'' I said, ''What? That's not possible!'' He had a kind of wisdom you only get from centuries of former life. He could talk about any number of things — books, ideas — and this was not a 24-year-old you were talking to. Maybe he was part aborigine somewhere down the line.
Bentley: Heath had great taste in music. He always knew what to play at 5 a.m.: Neil Young, ''Old Man.'' He'd find the right time for it and sneak it in.
Diana Ossana, screenwriter, Brokeback Mountain: I called Steve Alexander and said. ''Get this script to Heath now.'' Heath was with [then-girlfriend] Naomi Watts in New York and on the way back to Australia, they both read it. When I met Heath, he told me that after they read the script, Naomi was jumping up and down on the bed going, ''You have to do this! This will repay you in ways that you can't imagine!''
James Schamus, producer, Brokeback Mountain: Heath was somebody that [screenwriters] Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana had always used as a reference point in writing the character of Ennis. You knew that part was in Heath. It was just a question of whether Ang could bring it out. Heath met Ang, and it was one of those funny conversations. All Ang wants is about 45 minutes to stare at the person. He doesn't need to say anything and doesn't care what the person has to say. But the minute Heath left it was like, ''Okay, great. Yep.''
Hardwicke: Heath said, ''I've got to go be a gay cowboy.'' And everyone was talking every which way, making every kind of joke. You knew it was going to be great and he had to do it. But there was the fear embodied in it, too: What was I thinking? Did I really agree to this?
Bentley: I had the offer [for Brokeback], like, five years earlier, when Gus Van Sant was going to direct it. I was definitely interested but it didn't come together. And then Heath brought it up. I got to make fun of him a lot. I said, ''You know you're going to be the gay cowboy for the rest of your life.'' It was scary for him. He wasn't gay — quite the opposite. But crossing that boundary, I don't know if I could have done it the way he did it. Heath got beyond that.
Pecorini: Heath was extremely relieved he didn't win the Oscar. I saw him the next day and he was like, ''It's a big, bloody weight off my back.'' I said, ''Don't you have even a little regret?'' He said, ''No. It's over! I'm free now!'' If he had won, he would have had to deal even more with this system that wanted to guide his career and his life. He immediately threw himself back into a project that was really important to him: a movie he wanted to make about ['60s British singer] Nick Drake. That was one of his dream projects. The moment the Oscars were over, he said, ''Now we can do the Nick Drake thing.''
Pecorini: When he came to me with the first makeup test of the Joker, I said, ''S---, man, they're going to fire you!'' And he said, ''Maybe, but that's the only way I can play it.'' Movie studios are scared of daring. They're scared of pushing the envelope. And Heath was exactly the opposite. He was always pushing, pushing, pushing. It was in his nature to push the boundaries.
Gilliam: Heath was exhilarated by playing the Joker. He said, ''I'm able to do things I never believed were inside me.'' He's working with great actors, like Gary Oldman and Aaron Eckhart, and he'd say, ''I go into these scenes, and they can't do anything to me!'' He used to just giggle that he had found a character that was impregnable. They could beat him, hit him, and it wouldn't make a difference because he was so utterly wacko. It freed him up and got him out of that uncertainty after Brokeback. It was just, ''Let's go. Let's fly.'' And he flew.
Roven: I showed Heath the first six minutes of The Dark Knight, the bank heist sequence, on an IMAX screen in London. I said, ''You have to see this. You haven't seen yourself be the Joker!'' He watched it, and it just blew his mind. He was so thrilled, he was just laughing. He said, ''I want to see it again!'' It's not an easy thing to rethread an IMAX, so it took about 15 minutes but we showed it to him again. That was the last time I saw him.
In late 2007, Ledger went into production on Gilliam's next film, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (pictured). It was a time of intense stress, as his relationship with Williams was falling apart. Ledger began to complain of terrible difficulty sleeping.
Hardwicke: The pressures he was under, with his family, his daughter, everything, would stress out any yogi. Buddha would be stressed. You're being buffeted and pulled and tempted and flown across the ocean back and forth — how does anybody survive that? Obviously a lot of people don't.
Gilliam: All of us who were close to Heath knew what was going on, and it was not the most pleasant experience.... He was obsessed with his daughter. She became the center of his thoughts. He would drag her up to my house in London. Here's Heath, Academy Award nominee, and he'd just grab his daughter, stick her in a backpack, hop on the Tube, and come up to the house. Nobody would have thought, There's Heath Ledger. He was just a guy with a kid.
Pecorini: Separation when there is a kid involved is always very painful, no matter what. And Heath was always very hard on himself. His tendency was always to say, ''What did I do wrong?'' He was really bleeding. And I'm pretty sure that all his sleeping problems had nothing to do with work and all to do with Matilda and Michelle.
Oldman: Most of the conversations we had were about family. I think because I had been through being a single dad in the past, he was picking my brain a little. The last time I saw him, he said he was looking forward to spending some time with Matilda.
Pecorini: I'm convinced Heath caught pneumonia at the end of that year. I remember I forced him to see a doctor, even though he didn't want to. The doctor said, ''Yes, you have the beginning of pneumonia. You'd better get antibiotics and go home and sleep.'' He got the antibiotics, but he refused to go home and sleep. And that very night, he delivered one of his best performances I have ever seen him deliver. He went on nerves, mainly. (Pictured at 2007's Venice Film Festival)
In January 2008, Ledger traveled to New York for a brief break from filming on Parnassus. On Jan. 22, he was found dead in his SoHo apartment. There was immediate speculation he had overdosed on illicit drugs, but autopsy reports ruled his death an accidental toxic combination of prescription painkillers, anti-anxiety medication, and sleeping pills.
Gilliam: I was in Vancouver, and there was a computer with a BBC website and it says, ''Heath Ledger found dead.'' My immediate response was, ''It's a f---ing Warner Bros. publicity stunt for the Joker!'' We kept looking at the computer thinking it was going to change. But it wouldn't go away.
Hardwicke: I was in a van in Oregon scouting a location we shot for Twilight. And my phone just exploded. And then you're just on the ground, weeping. At least I was outside in this beautiful place with the trees and the green and you could just try to connect with his spirit right then.
Schamus: It was one of those ''where were you on the day Kennedy was shot'' moments. I called Jake and remember wailing.
Oldman: I call it the cosmic s--- hammer. Just one of those things. I can't even say I ever remember seeing Heath smoking. It was a complete shock.
Gilliam: They tried so hard to pin [drug abuse] on him, but they couldn't because Heath was as clean as you could be. We know about the pills. But he had stopped smoking. Marijuana was no longer in his life, which he had enjoyed a bit. He wasn't drinking. Nothing. This was a body that had cleansed itself for over a year of anything.
Pecorini: He was so solid into keeping clean, it was quite stunning. I really think he died of a broken heart. I know it can sound very romantic, but it's very tragic. I think that's what killed him.
Alexander: We were making these incredible plans about what was next, career-wise. The day after he died, he was going to meet Steven Spielberg to explore the idea of playing Tom Hayden in a movie about the Chicago 7. This wasn't a guy who was even for a second thinking about checking out in any way, shape, or form. There's a moment in The Dark Knight when Heath's hanging upside down and he says to Batman, ''You and I are destined to do this forever.'' It's a very sad moment. A sequel certainly would have happened. I cringe when I read that he was a tortured soul or a Method actor who couldn't get out of his own way because he'd played this dark character. It's just not true.
Bentley: I wish I knew what was going on with the prescription drugs. I could have said, ''That's not gonna help. Don't mix all that.'' I think he just didn't know what he was doing. I feel like at least he would have listened to me. I didn't go to the funeral because I know Heath would have been laughing at it. He would have had that smile on his face. At the very least he would have shrugged it off.
Pecorini: I remember when we went to the memorial service, most of the people there had nothing to do with Heath. He used to despise most of them, and there was no reason for them to be there. I understand the family wanting to give the ''Hollywood community,'' so-called, the opportunity of saying goodbye. But I’m telling you, 85 percent of the people in that room had no right to be there. It was pretty disturbing for me.
Oldman: If Heath does get an Oscar nomination, I can just picture him up there, looking down and going, F---!
Pecorini: We joked about [an Oscar nomination]. Heath used to say, ''This time I'm going to give them such a hard time — they'll have to cry to get an interview.'' He knew he'd done something special. But he was saying, ''This time I’m going to lead the dance.''
This was one of the comments left by A Kindred SpiritFri, Feb 13, 09 for this article:
I found myself struck by the tragedy of this young man's death. I didn't know the man and can't claim to know what was going on in his head, but obviously, he was in pain. I believe that he was only trying to find some peace and rest. I think that he just wanted the pain in his head and his heart to quiet just long enough to let him sleep...and in his desperation, he slept too deeply. The man was a damn good actor and by all accounts, a genuinely nice man who loved his daughter. God rest.
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......................................... Heath Ledger wanted to do a movie about Nick Drake. A very well-done video of Nick Drake's Pink Moon Uploaded by leeses1973
This is the best Pink Moon video on Youtube that I have seen.The undulating and swaying visuals are a perfect match for the rhythmic undercurrent of the guitar.And I love the percussive picture displays "dancing" in ensemble with the songs percussive rhythm sections.
Great work, Lisa.Heath would like this very much.Hopefully, he is smiling at it from where he is.
I love my life. I love where I live. And I am passionate about my passions. I love to dance. Necessary to live: music, piano, singing, writing, acting, painting.
I have been fighting for and supporting the arts all my adult life. Since 2004, I have been working with other activists to end the Darfur genocide.
I have traveled to Europe many times since my early twenties. Places I have been: many USA states including Hawaii, Montreal, Canada, Barbados, France, Spain, Luxembourg, England, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, Greece and Germany - and have wonderful memories.
My last trip was in May - June 2013 to Spain.
I would like to travel to Europe and Kyoto, Japan.
I love the southwest where I have visited Hopi, Navajo, Zia and San Idlefonso potters.
Life is exciting and I intend to live it full-out to the end.
B.S. and M.M., both in music
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Khartoum, Sudan Stop Genocide Time
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Spain Time
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Melbourne Time
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Hawaii Time
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RAFA NADAL -BRING BACK LONG PANTS - SLEEVELESS TOPS
Double Click on Videos to Enlarge
Darfur - The Abandoned Genocide - a video by Sandra Hammel
Want to help? Call 1~800~GENOCIDE
"May I Suggest" by Susan Werner
Satchita - Playing for Change
Stand By Me ~ Playing for Change
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Genocide is not only a word,
it is crying of the whole human race.
There is nothing redeeming about being silent
when speaking up is the humane thing to do.
The honor and integrity of the human race is at stake.
M......I want to thank you for letting me know what your signature is about. I have been lighting candles for several things and people. And my first candle that I lit for Heath has burned out, so I just followed your lead and lit another for him just now.
25. Posted by Sandra Hammel on January 22, 2010