Heath Ledger’s recent New York Times interview
The actor’s recent interview with the New York Times has been mentioned already in the reports of his death. You can read it here, with this passage taking on particular poignancy:
“Last week I probably slept an average of two hours a night,” he said. “I couldn’t stop thinking. My body was exhausted, and my mind was still going.” One night he took an Ambien [a sleeping pill], which failed to work. He took a second one and fell into a stupor, only to wake up an hour later, his mind still racing.
Even as he spoke, Mr. Ledger was hard-pressed to keep still. He got up and poured more coffee. He stepped outside into the courtyard and smoked a cigarette. He shook his hair out from under its hood, put a rubber band around it, took out the rubber band, put on a hat, took off the hat, put the hood back up. He went outside and had another cigarette. Polite and charming, he nonetheless gave off the sense that the last thing he wanted to do was delve deep into himself for public consumption. “It can be a little distressing to have to overintellectualize yourself,” is how he put it, a little apologetically.
Such a pointless waste. Obviously a very troubled guy
Comment by Declan Cashin | January 23, 2008 at 12:00 pmI was as gutted about this I’ve been about any “celebrity” death since Kurt Cobain. It’s really tragic when someone as genuinely talented as Ledger checks out so young.
Comment by Neill | January 23, 2008 at 1:31 pmI am struggling with the fact that I took his death hard. We lose people every day in all walks of life and we don’t claim to “know them” as we feel we are entitled to know and grieve for Heath Ledger. Don’t get me wrong, I think he was a wonderful actor, an interesting, edgy individual, and a father who had much to give his offspring. As people, we have a responsibility to those we leave behind. I know that sounds self-righteous, but I only mean that it’s altogether not a bad thing to consider our actions in terms of how they will effect those around us.
Comment by Ann | January 24, 2008 at 6:58 amWhy should he be troubled..?
Comment by Soompje | January 24, 2008 at 9:03 pmWonder will there be a tribute season at the Irish Film Center so we can see all Heath Ledger’s films together in retrospect ? Caroline
Comment by caroline walsh | January 28, 2008 at 2:32 pm