Hollywood director Stephen Gaghan has opened up about a heartbreaking personal detail when Heath Ledger died.
Just over 12 months after his death on 22 January 2008, the late actor was awarded the Oscar for the Best Supporting Actor for his iconic performance as the Joker in The Dark Knight.
Ledger died at the age of 28 after accidentally overdosing on prescription painkillers while The Dark Knight was in the final stages of production.
There had been claims that Ledger's dedication to the role, including locking himself in a hotel room for weeks and keeping a diary of his character's thoughts had contributed in some way to his death, but his sister Kate refuted those suggestions.
She explained that he'd been 'so proud' of what he'd done on the movie and was looking forward to appearing in another Batman film as he'd 'had the best time ever' on The Dark Knight.
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And now Gaghan, who has directed Matthew McConaughey in Gold and Robert Downey Jr in Doolittle, has shared new details about Ledger's death.
This comes after Gaghan's recent admission on Malcolm Gladwell's podcast Revisionist History: Development Hell, where he spoke about plans to make a movie named Blink with Ledger based on a book by Gladwell.
The 58-year-old director opened up about the devastating phone call he received from Ledger's father Kim, shortly after his death.
He recalled: "The dad and the guy who was closest to him in his professional life, they were there with the body and our script was in bed with him, and [Gladwell's] book was on the bedside table.
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"I think my number was on the script, like written. These guys, as you can imagine, they are in shock and they dialled that number and I don't know why.
"I'm in an airport with my wife just going from one place to another, and I literally just collapse, never happened to me before or since.
"My feet went out from under me. I just literally sat down because I was like, 'What?'
"The emotion, what they were going through, I should not have been a party to in any way really, and yet as a human or as somebody who just cares, I just was there and I was listening and my wife was looking at me.
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"I remember her face and I was just like, I was speechless.
"I just listened and listened and listened. It was just really, really sad.
"And it's still sad. For me, I just had to put a pin in it."
He had a great relationship with the Joker star, adding: "I met Heath Ledger and I'd gotten to be very, very close with him instantly.
"I had a real connection with him that was unusual and really special to me.
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"I had this feeling that I love this guy and was going to make a bunch of movies with him - and then I got [the] phone call."
Topics: Heath Ledger, Joker
Anish Vij