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| All good things come in threes: buses, luck and sexy Aussie actors. We've loved Guy Pearce and Russell Crowe, and now there's Heath Ledger. His Hollywood rise has been meteoric. Three years ago he was working on Australian Tv show Roar, but after being spotted by Hollywood casting directors he was signed up to star with Mel Gibson in The Patriot. In his new film, A Knight's Tale, he appears with Rufus Sewell, who describes him as "one of the lads". To top it all, last year he netted himself a Hollywood girlfriend - Heath Graham, who's nine years his senior. US tabloids said they were planning a secret wedding until their split a couple of months ago. To the rumours Heath claimed: "My defence is to not read what's written about us." Ledger, 22, is dismissive of his new-found celebrity status, insisting to those who refer to him as the star of A Knight's Tale: "It's an ensemble cast, an ensemble movie." Whatever he says, the producers have put his face alone on the posters. "They only put me up there so they have somebody to blame if it doesn't work. It's called passing the buck," he jokes. Named after Wuthering Heights' tragic hero Heathcliff (he has a sister called Catherine and says his mother is a "hopeless romantic"), Ledger grew up in Perth. His parents divorced when he was 10, so he now has lots of step-siblings, "I haven't spent much time with my family since I left at 16. I go back to Australia as often as I can." His next film is Four Feathers, where he stars alongside Kate Hudson and Wes Bentley. Russell Crowe and Guy Pearce had better watch out.... |
| This was taken from Marie Claire magazine |