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.

TARA BROWN: 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 … 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… I'm really … 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" … 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.
Tara's interview Continued...
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