Heath's Hard Cell After shooting films back-to-back for the last few years, Heath Ledger got to spend two laid-back months back home in Australia late last year. He put in some family time in Perth, surfed in Sydney and was a face in the crowd at Melbourne's AFL Grand Final. "Simple things like that, you miss," says Heath. "I chilled-out with my family. It was my first month home in five years. Then I moved to Sydney and surfed. I woke up at five in the morning, got to the beach at six, surfed for an hour or two, went home, slept during lunch and went back in the afternoon for another surf. I hadn't done that in years and I'd missed it like you wouldn't believe." But it wasn't long before 23-year-old Heath was back to the globe-trotting lifestyle that has been the norm since The Patriot broke him internationally. "You live life one way for 20 years and then, boom! All of a sudden you live it another way - and there's a period in between where you don't know what the hell's going on," he laughs. ...Heath seems more comfortable with the constant movement required of a star. ....Monster's Ball location shoot: "After a week it feels like shooting anywhere - you could be working in a hotel, you know? Everyone's doing their own thing." Heath says working with Billy Bob was "unbelievable". "That guy is fantastic. You lose yourself in him. You're not aware of the fact you're acting. You feel more like an illusionist because that guy takes you there." Like most Aussies of his generation, Heath had never been confronted with the issue of capital punishment until making the film. "It raised a lot of questions - you know, how liberal should we be with this? It's a tough one. Personally I don't think you should kill someone, but on the other hand what would happen if it was one of your family members murdered?" Ned Kelly: Since Heath will play Ned Kelly in director Gregor Jordan's Our Sunshine in Australia later this year, it's fair to assume this will not be the last time he finds himself on death row. Although next time he will be the prisoner. "I'm starting to think about that but, you know, there's nothing solid in my head right now on how it's going to be played," he says of portraying Australia's most legendary bushranger. "Am I nervous? Yeah, to a certain degree, because we've got to get it right - it would be so easy to slip up. But I trust Gregor. He directed me in Two Hands." Sin Eater: "It's just good working with Brian and the same cast again, because we all get along so well," says Heath. And what does he make of the film's unusual storyline. "It's certainly quirky," he laughs. NW Magazine