~ Interviews With Heath ~
There's more than ten things we love about Aussie hottie Heath - and here are a few interviews with him. Just to let you know, most of these are from a while ago.
Did you really drive 2,600 miles to Sydney to find fame at 16?
"I did, but it was really more about exploring life. I'm the sort of person that wants to get on that train that's flying past at 90 miles an hour. And going to Sydney was an excuse to do that."
Did you find auditioning tough?
"During an audition, I'm so aware of being judged taht I crinkle up and my voice goes funny. In my audition for A Knight's Tale I had to play the digeridoo! Strangely enough, that scene was eventually dropped from the film. I guess it didn't go taht well!"
Are you putting teen films behind you?
"I take great pride in my work, but get bored really quickly. So if I'm bored by a film, I won't give enough of myself. After loads of teen flicks, I took a year off to see if I'd be offered something I really wanted to do. Thankfully it paid off."
So how does it feel to be a heart-throb?
"I don't think about it unless someone asks me. It's something outside of my life, it's nothing to do with me."
Are you a true romantic?
"I believe romance comes form the mind rather than some materialistic act. And it's certainly cheaper that way!"
Ok, tell us about being famous...
"It's quite intimidating seeing your face everywhere. But, as long as you're aware it's just a manufactured thing, it's OK. The thing is, I haven't actually had the chance to breath it all in, to sit down and smell the fame. But I know I'm really happy right now and that's great."
Aww, that makes us happy, too, Heath
ANOTHER "INTERVIEW":
His new film...
"I play a poor thatcher who starts competing in jousting tournaments to improve his life. The movie's funny, it's got romance and action. I really love it!"
Jousting...
"They spent three weeks teaching us to joust for A Knight's Tale, but we didn't really do any in the end. I had fun sword fighting though!"
His 'big' break...
"My first acting role was as a donkey in our school nativity!"
Appearing in Home and Away...
"It was the only job that had come around for a while, so I did it. But as soon as I said 'yeah,' I got a role in an American show, Roar."
Being romantic...
"I love sitting around holding hands. Just spending time with someone, doing nothing, can be romantic."
Hollywood...
"It's just like a big high school. It's not as big and scary as it makes out. I get a real kick out of it but I'm not about to fall for any hype."
J17 SEPTEMBER 2001 (UK)
Is that a real tattoo?
Yeah. [He points to the black and white tattoo on his right bicep]. It's the centre of the universe. You know, the sun, the earth and the moon. I designed it myself.
Do you feel, like, spirtually connected to the stars, man?
Yeah, that's something we should all be interested in. That's the only truth we have!
Erm, on to a different kind of star - you play a knight in your new movie, was that a laugh?
It was tons of fun. It's what I used to do in my backyard with my friends! Except, this time I had bigger toys and a bigger playground. The accent was easy, cos the director just said "do what you want". But when I turned up, everyone was using an English accent, so I was like "I need to learn to do that!" I ended up doing just any accent. It's kind of English...
You ride a horse in the film. Did you have any close shaves?
Yeah, but you can't blame the horse. There I am on his back, wearing metal, and the crowd behind are screaming. I'm kicking him to make him move, and there's a guy at the other end of the field charging at him with a pole aimed at his head. The poor horse freaked out. He charged straight for this pole, and the next thing I knew, my leg got busted up. It was a great knight moment! The horse was fine, but it was scary.
Your character tries to win the heart of a fair maiden. What's the best way for a girl to bowl you over?
Honesty always gets my attention. Not particularly someone who is honest to me, but someone who is honest with themselves. That is a quality I really enjoy, admire and love.
Do you go to loads of showbiz parties?
Just look at the way I'm dressed [in sweats, like he's just got out of bed!]. What do you think? I'm not into those parties. Going to my own premieres is work. It's fun, but by the end of the night, your voice is so sore cos you've been talking non-stop. So no, I don't go to any of those Hollywood events.
Do you freak out when you think about how famous you are?
No, I take it as it comes. As soon as you believe it, you start becoming it. I don't want to be anything else.
You've just split from Heather Graham. When you were together, did you read the goss written about the two of you?
No, but there's a bunch of stuff which I would hear through friends. They'd ring me up and we'd just laugh about it. In fact it was hilarious! Heather never dragged me along to a tarot card reader. I also didn't buy her earrings, so she wasn't disappointed that they weren't an engagement ring either! You have to find comedy in it, because it's harmless fun.
So what's up next?
I'm going home to Perth to visit my family. I'm dying to see them. I've been working for 18 months flat out...
You've just been filming in England. Was that fun?
I hated London because of the class system - I think it sucks. I also didn't like the weather. I was over during the winter and I thought it was miserable. But I did like getting out of London and going to the countryside. It was absolutely beautiful. I met a lot of really wonderful people in England.
So who would you rather date - an English girl or an American girl?
You know, I have no preference to who I date, American, Australian or English - whatever.
Sounds good to us. Here's my cell number. Give us a call....hehe
NEXT INTERVIEW...
TARA BROWN: Do you live a celebrity lifestyle? Do you drive around in convertibles?
HEATH LEDGER: Let's wave to the paparazzi.
TARA BROWN: You love the paparazzi.
HEATH LEDGER: Let's piss them off. Hi guys, how are you doing? Jerks.
TARA BROWN: You don't like them?
HEATH LEDGER: No, they like, hound you and they sit out there and follow you. It sucks.
TARA BROWN: It's a frenzied reception normally reserved for royals and rock stars. In this full house, on centre stage, is a rather bemused lad from Perth, wondering what all the fuss is about. Is it always this crazy?
HEATH LEDGER: No, it's a shock for me because I haven't, you know, I haven't seen any of this, I haven't experienced any of this before.
TARA BROWN: So you're feeling famous right now?
HEATH LEDGER: Yeah, I guess. Yeah, if this is how you're supposed to feel.
TARA BROWN: Now, incredibly, after just three years of knocking on Hollywood's doors, Heath has landed his first leading role. He literally plays a knight in shining armour. A Knight's Tale is a fun romp set in medieval times with a modern beat.
HEATH LEDGER: It's a smorgasbord of entertainment, so to speak. It just had, you know, the comedy and the drama, the action and the rock-and-roll music and the romance. It had all these ingredients and I was very curious on how the hell I was going to pull it off.
TARA BROWN: He's a bit of a romantic character. Are you a romantic bloke?
HEATH LEDGER: I think so. I think, yeah.
TARA BROWN: In what way?
HEATH LEDGER: Oh, God, I think in life in general, you know, it's one thing to be romantic in love, but I think romance — it's a universal thing in life. It's important to be romantic, I guess. I don't know.
TARA BROWN: What does that mean?
HEATH LEDGER: I hoped you wouldn't ask that.
TARA BROWN: The Perth-based teen soap Sweat was Heath's tentative first step on his stellar path. For this 16-year-old sports champion and school dropout, it was a choice between a career on the hockey field or the role of Snowy Boles, a gay cyclist.
HEATH LEDGER: I remember stopping and looking at it and saying, "Oh, that's really bad, you know," and then I'm like, "Mum, that's really bad, isn't it?" And she kind of didn't disagree with me, which made me feel better. Then I stopped and I realised look, I can see the mistakes I'm making. There's no reason why I can't change them.
TARA BROWN: And therefore there's no need to go to college or an acting school ⦣8364; is that how you felt?
HEATH LEDGER: Maybe there was a need to ⦣8364; no, I didn't want to.
TARA BROWN: Why not?
HEATH LEDGER: You know, because the one thing that's got me to where I'm sitting is my instincts, you know, and I'm impatient. I didn't want to wait for years to work. I wanted to just get out there and do it.
TARA BROWN: How long has it been since you've been in an Aussie pub?
HEATH LEDGER: About four days.
TARA BROWN: As Heath tells it, it was that impatience of youth that first brought him to Sydney as a 16-year-old. With just a few cents in his pocket and a lot of faith in his beaten up Mazda, he crossed the Nullabor.
HEATH LEDGER: It was literally jumping in that car and planting the foot down and bolting out and...
TARA BROWN: And running away at all?
HEATH LEDGER: Oh no, running TO. I've got nothing to run away from in Perth. I love my family, I love my friends, I love the city. It was just there was all this going on outside of that and I just had to be a part of it. I had to go out and learn for myself.
TARA BROWN: Heath began to flex his acting muscles in the international television series Roar. But it was the Australian film Two Hands that proved the kid could act.
HEATH LEDGER: It was wonderful. It was nerve-racking at first because it was Bryan Brown and, you know, I was a fan of his and looked up to him, and so you can't help but be a little shaky when you first meet someone like that.
TARA BROWN: Most Australian actors like Bryan Brown were well established and well into their 30s before attempting Hollywood. Heath couldn't wait that long. He was just 19 when he got himself an agent and a starring role in a teen flick. Did you ever think twice — here I am, another Aussie actor, making the pilgrimage to Hollywood?
HEATH LEDGER: Yeah, I did. But I never moved there expecting anything to happen. I went there with the attitude of ⦣8364; I've got nothing to lose.
TARA BROWN: So, how do you react then when people say you're pretty lucky?
HEATH LEDGER: I know I worked really hard to be in the position I'm in now, I really did. But yeah, it's easy for people to just say, "Oh, it's luck", and maybe it is, I don't know. I don't know.
TARA BROWN: After that movie, you started knocking back scripts. Why was that?
HEATH LEDGER: I just wanted to protect my career, I guess. What I discovered after that was people in Hollywood can't hear "no". They don't like to hear "no". And so I had a lot of fun saying "no" for a year.
TARA BROWN: So playing hard to get works?
HEATH LEDGER: I think so. But you know, look, the last five months of that hard-to-get period just flipped around. It was like, "Come on, employ me."
TARA BROWN: It was Mel Gibson and the film The Patriot which rescued a very broke Heath Ledger. It was a role he beat 500 other hopefuls to, but one he almost blew at the audition.
HEATH LEDGER: I was halfway through the second scene I had to read for them and the words were (speaks gibberish) coming out like this, so I just stopped and stood up and I said, "I'm sorry, I'm wasting your time⦣8364; I'm really ⦣8364; I'm doing a bad, bad performance here." And I kind of mumbled out a few words and phrases and I shuffled my way out the door and they just, like, stuck there watching me and I said, "Look, you can call me back if you want, but I've got to go."
TARA BROWN: Mel Gibson may be onto his next film but he remembers why Heath got the part in The Patriot.
MEL GIBSON: I think he's tremendous. He's got what they call "the unknown factor" ⦣8364; whatever it is that sort of lights up the screen. He's just a very likable guy.
HEATH LEDGER: The first scene I did with him I was absolutely petrified, and it was bad, and I was shaking and my voice was nervous and all tense and like it is now, and then I went back to my hotel room or my apartment and I was literally beating my head against the wall saying, "How can I get myself out of this? There must be a way I can get out of this now," because I was so scared.
MEL GIBSON: He gets really nervous about it, which I remember because when you're younger, you really get wound up about it. But he's going to be good, he's going to be great. He's got the natural rhythm and instinct and he looks like a real man, you know. And he's a kid, so he's got a good kick-off there, plenty of talent.
TARA BROWN: And Mel's not the only one to have spotted that talent. At the world premiere of A Knight's Tale, Heath was in hot demand, as was his girlfriend at the time, Heather Graham. Known around the world for her role as Felicity Shagwell, Heather and Heath were an item for 10 months.
TARA BROWN: I have to ask you this question: how did a bloke like you, a lad from Perth, land one of the most gorgeous women in the world?
HEATH LEDGER: She is. And, you know, just by — we met in Prague — it was through work. She was working there and I was working there, but you know, I keep all that very personal.
TARA BROWN: Sure.
HEATH LEDGER: You know, it's just something I'll always protect. You've got to.
TARA BROWN: Heath has said little about his split with Heather, but he couldn't do much to stop the splash it made on the Internet, or to control what's known as the "Heath-wave" sweeping the worldwide Web. Have you checked out your websites? "Heath Ledger is hot." "Heath Ledger: oestrogen brigade."
HEATH LEDGER: I don't know what to think about that. It's embarrassing, you know. It is. I get embarrassed.
TARA BROWN: How do you explain this effect you have on women?
HEATH LEDGER: I don't know. It's just happening. It's something that you can either be super aware of and indulge in or just live your own life and forget about it.
TARA BROWN: You get a real sense watching your movies that you're having a great adventure, you know, a boy's own adventure.
HEATH LEDGER: Yeah.
TARA BROWN: Is that how you would describe it?
HEATH LEDGER: Yeah, definitely in A Knight's Tale, that's how... Yeah, it was, it was an adventure, it was a playground, it was a big playground; it was lots of fun.
TARA BROWN: And continuing to have fun is really what drives
Heath Ledger. In true Aussie fashion, this home-grown hunk doesn't take himself or his success too seriously.
HEATH LEDGER: I'm not even giving my agent my phone number. I've got all these faxes slipped under my door saying, "Call me. Call me". I have fun not calling him now.
TARA BROWN: Is this about playing hard to get, or is this about having time off?
HEATH LEDGER: Well, yeah, it is with my agent because I like playing games like that with him. But it is, it's purely about just having time off. I have so much fun making movies, and I really love what I do, but ultimately you work to live and I've just got to get back the equivalent and just live a little, that's all.
A KNIGHT'S TALE INTERVIEW:
There were some accidents on the set. Have you been hurt?
Heath: Nah, I got a stuntman who takes the hard work, so I didn’t get hurt on the set.
How easy was the part as a knight on a horse?
Heath: I've ridden horses for a while, so the only difficult thing was holding the lance right. But on the other side it was a lot of fun. I feel like a little boy who may play in a 'playground' for one whole day.
Was it difficult to wear the (heavy) uniform?
Heath: I really can’t believe that people who lives years ago could fight in it. And it was terribly hot! And if you needed to scratch you couldn’t reach the place that you wanted because there was the uniform. I’ve seen some Knights who were scratching at a tree. Haha.
How did you get interested in A Knight’s Tale?
Heath: I got interested in the movie because the script was really nice to read. It was like a comedy and a love story with action and rock music. But it was a big challenge; like: How I gonna do this?
The movie ‘Four Feathers with Kate Hudson has already been recorded too. Tell us about it!
Heath: It was great! Four months in a dessert with Shekhar Kapur. He’s the best at the set! He can change your life completely, and he will! He works you totally for 100 %, 24 hours, 7 days and 4 months with three hours for a sleep, without failing! I like that!
Since the Patriot you've become very hot in Hollywood. How does it feel?
Heath: I worked very hard and I didn’t get the time to think about it. It’s exiting and scary at the same time, because all those things that get straight to you…
Do people recognise you?
Heath: Yeah, specially in Australia. And I think in America too. But in Australia the most. It’s a noise there. Too bad because my ‘home’ will never be the same again.
Do people yell to you on the street?
Heath: Yes. It even got in the newspaper (1st page) that I like to eat fettucini in a restaurant on Tuesday!!
You said ‘no thanks’ to a lot of films, even when you got no money for a while. Wasn’t that hard?
Heath: No! Totally not!! I’m not being an actor for the money! And it was funny to say ‘NO’ to all those movies! The people in Hollywood didn’t like that at all!
Is it true that you say “no thanks’ to ‘Spiderman’?
Heath: It wasn’t a direct question. They wanted to talk about it first, then they’d ask me officially. But why should I do it? I've never read comics and if I did, I’d read Spiderman last.
How did you meet your girlfriend Heather Graham?
Heath: At a party!
Do you give Heather advice, and Heather you?
Heath: No I didn’t have a relationship with Heather for the business. No true love relationship is, at least not for me.
Does she change your life?
Heath: Haha, I'm not gonna tell you that!!
What do you miss the most about Australia?
Heath: I think I miss the sense of humour.
Is there a big difference??
Yes, there is!! The people in Australia have got a very dry sense of humor, if I make a joke in the US, the people think I’m serious. So I decided that I don’t make any jokes
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