GARY OLDMAN accepted HEATH LEDGER's Best Supporting Actor honour at the Screen Actors Guild Awards on Sunday (25Jan09) after his co-star's parents asked him to represent their son. Oldman admitted he was "quite emotional" when he took the stage at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles to claim Ledger's award for his role as The Joker in The Dark Knight, and went on to give a short but heartfelt speech about his friend, who passed away a year ago (22Jan08).

The British actor admits he was honoured when Ledger's family asked him to accept Ledger's SAG award. He says, "We went for a wonderful meal with the family in New York. We got on very well. They called and said, ‘Would I pick it up for (Heath) if he won?’”

And Oldman is stunned by his late pal's performance in the Batman sequel: "As devilishly hard as it looked, I think it was like breathing for Heath... I was getting to know him and there was a friendship that was developing. Heaven knows what he was going to go on to do."


Source: Contact Music

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