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ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Ledger had mentioned in a New York Times interview last fall that he had sleep troubles, and that he'd used sleeping aids to try to cope with that.
CHRISTOPHER PLUMMER: That's interesting, I didn't know that.
Did he ever seem or look tired on the set?
Oh no. Great energy. Always wonderful energy. In fact he did some of his own stunts just before we left London, some jumping and leaping about. Not horrendously dangerous stunts, but physically challenging stunts. Like leaping onto a rising stage from this rather quite high-up spot. He wants to do everything himself? Well that's all right — he's 28 years old. We all did. [Gentle laugh].... Anyway, it's so sad. I think he was just too over-exhausted: 28 years old, you think you can bounce back. But maybe not with heavy pneumonia on your chest.
There was an initial, seemingly groundless wave of speculation that it could be suicide, based on some inaccurate and incomplete reports about sleeping medications he kept in his apartment.
That doesn't make any sense. He was looking forward — he was in such a good, happy mood about the picture. Looking forward to going to Vancouver. He was enjoying the film thoroughly, and I'm here to say so. He was also terribly excited about becoming a director.
Right — he was going to direct a movie about a chess prodigy, called The Queen's Gambit.
I think that's where most of his ambitions would have lain, for the future. That too is such a shame. He thoroughly embraced the profession, and loved it. He wasn't suffering for his art at all. He was enjoying it.
Did he talk about wanting to direct?
He was very friendly with Terry Gilliam. They became very good friends on The Brothers Grimm and consequently bonded. And [on Doctor Parnassus] they would consult and they'd look and he'd watch, and he was fascinated. They were having such fun on this one. He was very inventive, Heath, and very versatile, as indeed many Australian actors are. They have a marvelous ear for accents and for character. He gave some very good ideas and pointers. As we all tried to do, but I think he was very serious about directing. Such a shame. He was so talented in so many areas.
You made a film with Terrence Malick a few years back, The New World — and Heath was at one point going to work with Malick on something called Tree of Life, though recent reports are that Ledger dropped out and Brad Pitt may take the role he would have played.
We never talked about that. You know, I didn't get to know him very well.... There was no time for that, really. You had to take what you got with the weather, and you had to be always on call, standing there waiting for your shot. One could step into a car every now and then and get warm, but shooting at night in a big city, it's not easy.... We were working in such dire conditions in London, outside every night in the cold. Which may have contributed somewhat to [the state of] his health. We were all armed with antibiotics all the time. It wasn't exactly joyous, except that the film itself was fun to do.
NEXT PAGE: ''He stuck up for what were the right parts, and that's very commendable. He didn't succumb to any of those cheap temptations, and throwing himself into a huge variety of roles.''
