Ledger Grimm about triple billing in Venice
Stephen Applebaum, Venice
September 03, 2005

HEATH Ledger is trying to forget he has three movies showing at the Venice Film Festival.

Fidgeting nervously as he sits in the garden of the exclusive Hotel de Bains, the actor says it's exciting but nerve-racking.

"I get nervous when I have to talk about movies," he says. "So I'm pretending I have just one in the festival." It's a tough task as the 26-year-old's face is plastered along the Lido on posters for Ang Lee's gay cowboy drama Brokeback Mountain, Lasse Hallstrom's Casanova, in which he plays the legendary lover, and Terry Gilliam's critically derided fantasy, The Brothers Grimm.

Brokeback Mountain was a brave choice as Ledger has to share several sexually intimate scenes with Jake Gyllenhaal, who plays his lover. The Australian star said the script was beautiful, but the decision to do the film was difficult.

"It scared the hell out of me," he said. "And I didn't want to kiss Jake Gyllenhaal."

Ledger met his partner, actress Michelle Williams, during the making of Brokeback Mountain, in which she plays his on-screen wife, and the couple are now expecting their first child.

The prospect of fatherhood has prompted some lifestyle changes. Ledger has moved out of Hollywood after nine years, and now calls Brooklyn and Sydney home.

"I could never picture myself raising children in Hollywood," he says.

Ledger looks like a man in pursuit of relaxation -- if only it weren't for the demands of promoting three films in Venice.