Newsmakers: Heath Ledger
Newsweek
April 9, 2007 issue - Heath Ledger

He plays a heroin addict in the underrated Australian film "Candy," now on DVD.
Ledger spoke to Ramin Setoodeh.



I've got an idea for how we can get people to rent this DVD.
OK, how?

We can tell them about your nude scene.
When am I nude?

The love scene—in the beginning.
Well, OK. I'm fairly nude. I'm half nude. I jumped off the cliff in "Brokeback Mountain" completely nude. That was a 45-foot drop into freezing cold glacier water.

You didn't use a stuntman?
No, that was me. And a stuntman. Jake [Gyllenhaal] chose to sit it out. I love jumping off things. I was chomping at the bit to get up there.

Are the reports true that you and Michelle Williams got married?
We try not to talk about it, to keep it our own kind of thing. It's obviously very sacred. People write stories regardless. The stories haven't necessarily been bad. So we're letting people run with their assumptions.

It's not like people won't eventually find out.
That's right.

And yet, how will we ever know for sure if you never say anything?
They take photos of us wearing our wedding rings.

I've seen those photos. So I take it that you are married.
You can write whatever you wish.

Why don't you just make the announcement now and get it over with?
We're not ones to announce.

As the Joker in the new "Batman" movie, have you tried on the mask yet?
Metaphorically, yes. I've been bouncing around like a lunatic for four months. I definitely have a different take on him, but I've yet to do a proper makeup run. It's on the agenda.

Do you walk around the house all day practicing your laugh?
I'd be lying if I said I haven't been.