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| STEPHEN REBELLO: With so much happening to you in the past year, do you ever wake up and wonder how you got to such a place? HEATH LEDGER: [Laughing] No, I rarely wake up and think about anything beyong, "I'm hungry." It would would be a lie to say I sit around and think about any of this stuff. My family gets all juiced up by it, though. They're living a different life through my eyes, a life that's probably more exciting for them than it is for me. Q: You've been quoted saying that you'll drop out of the business if it stops being fun. A: Yes, and I'm totally having fun. I love what I do, but it wouldn't be hard for me to walk away if I didn't. Q: The Patriot gave you a tremendous amount of buzz in Hollywood. Did you figure that it would when you signed on? A: Making that film came out of left field. Before it, I had a year and a half of sitting on my ass doing nothing. Without that movie, you wouldn't be here talking to me. Q: What did you learn from Mel Gilbson while working with him on The Patriot? A: He knows how to run himself as a business. He's also incredibly detached from it all and focused on his life and family. Mel is like a gigantic king sitting up on his throne laughing and enjoying his banquet but at the same time running the city. Its really cool to have the first movie star I work with be someone like Mel, as opposed to an asshole. Q: Why did you take a year and half off from acting before making The Patriot? A: I was waiting for the right thing, determined that it would come. If it didn't, I was fully prepared to go home. I was that stubborn about it. "They" wanted to throw all sorts of opportunities in the world at me. That's their job. At the end of the day, it's what you make of the opportunites, which ones you pick that define you. Q: But during the year and half, didn't you almost get the role Jason Behr eventually won on "Roswell"? A: I wasn't as close as you think. Yes, it was one of the things that I went for. I had been in New York for four months and had no money. Absolutely nothing. There were a lot of decisions during that year and a half where I was like, "Oh, God, should I take this part?" Then you talk yourself into thinking its a good idea. I figured I could do a series and get out in five years. Q: What did you learn from yourself from that jobless stage? A: I studied myself constantly, asking myself why I did things, why I was thinking and feeling things. I like to really get in and read myself like a book. It helps me understand my craft. This year was a wonderful period where I got to relax with the world. It solidfied for me the importance of standing by what I believe. Q: Which is? A: I'm only in this because I enjoy it. In terms of this industry, I can't run out and take just anythingthat might make me happy only for the moment. That's such a contrast to my character because I live every day by the second, not by the minute, hour or day. I don't have a diary or schedule. I never have. I don't even carry cash. Can I borrow a dollar to pay the valet later? Q: Sure. A: Thanks man. Q: Your upcoming film, A Knight's Tale, is packed with action scenes, which must have been physical strain. Were there ever times on the shoot when you were thinking, "What have I gotten into"? A: No. Making that was fun. Everyone in that cast loved each other. I just saw it for the first time the other day and it is fucking fantastic. Oh, man, you haven't seen anything like this thing. I don't usually like to sound like a movie whore, to put myself out there and promote it, but its relly, really great. It's really funny and the jousting shit is astounding. The music, the cast-- I'm just really happy with the way it turned out. I knew it was going to be good; I dind't expect it to be this good. I've finally made a movie my little sister can enjoy. |
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