Posts Tagged ‘matilda’
Hot Shots! 2/23/09-3/19/09
February 26th, 2009
Settlement Reached on Heath Ledger’s Life Insurance
January 29th, 2009
Heath Ledger’s insurance company and lawyers for his daughter, Matilda Rose, have reached a settlement over a $10 million policy on behalf of the 3-year-old.
Ledger, 28, died a year ago in his NYC apartment in what officials ruled an accidental overdose on prescription medication.
However, lawyers for Ledger’s life insurance company initially didn’t want to pay out on the policy because they believed his death could have been a suicide, which would nullify the policy.
Attorney William Shernoff filed a lawsuit in July 2008 on behalf of Ledger’s 3-year-old daughter, Matilda Rose, over the $10 million he argued was due to her as the beneficiary.
"The parties are pleased that they were able to reach an amicable settlement and solve the dispute," Shernoff said.
No details were released on terms of the agreement. Ledger, who had his daughter with Michelle Williams, is Oscar-nominated for his role as The Joker in The Dark Knight.
Michelle Williams is a Survivor
December 8th, 2008
With the first anniversary of Heath Ledger’s death coming up next month, his ex-fiance Michelle Williams admits she’s still trying to make sense of the paparazzi attraction she and their daughter, Matilda, have become.
"I do sometimes wish that I could live with less attention but not being totally ignored by the world," Williams tells Parade.com. "It’s very wearing to be a celebrity. I wonder if people are going to follow me or if someone is going to pop out of nowhere with a camera. I get very angry but I’m trying not to let it stop me from living."
Williams adds, "You’re sort of straddling that fine line between being kind and courteous and everything that your mother raised you to be to strangers that come up and refuse to respect your privacy."
In the midst of her grief, Michelle, 28, has continued to challenge herself with film roles. The actress recently won a lead actress nod for the Indie Spirit Awards for her role in Wendy and Lucy. The actress plays Wendy, a woman trying to start a new life with her dog Lucy after bad breaks leave them penniless and alone.
It’s a strong role–but in real life, Michelle says she still struggles to assert herself when it comes to what she wants.
"I still have to put up a fight to get the environment right on the set when I’m acting," she says. "And, as a woman, it’s hard to do. You’re taught to be polite and quiet so that nobody will think you’re difficult. When I worked with [Philip Seymour] Hoffman on Synecdoche, I saw him get really militant about keeping people out of his eye line. I thought, ‘Gosh, I’ve always felt like that, but I’ve been too shy to really say anything.’ And so when you see somebody else do it and still be respected, it makes you go, ‘Well, I’m going to try it too.’"
Michelle, who left her parents house to move to L.A. when she was 15, quit high school to act. She eventually got her big break playing Jen Lindley on the 90’s hit Dawson’s Creek. While shooting the film Brokeback Mountain, Michelle began dating Heath Ledger and in 2005, the couple had daughter Matilda.
So does she ever wish she’d done it differently?
"I wouldn’t trade any of those experiences for anything in the world," she says. "I am who I am because of them. I had a lot of growing up to do and it was slammed into a couple of short years.But the one thing I’ve always had is an incredible amount of determination. And I guess it’s innate within everybody. It’s just a survival skill."
Michelle Puts Feelings On Screen
November 24th, 2008
Michelle Williams has stayed out of the public eye in the last year, as much as she can, to shield her daughter Matilda Rose from the paparazzi while the family mourns Heath Ledger’s death.
But in her latest role, Wendy and Lucy, filmed after her split from Heath in 2007, Michelle plays a sad, lonely character, and put a lot of herself into the role.
"It was a vulnerable time," she says in an interview with Newsweek. "I felt vulnerable but somehow strong. No, just vulnerable. It was a strange combination of one of the greatest summers of my life and one of the most excruciating summers of my life."
She also talks about Heath for the first time since he passed away in January, bursting into tears with the interviewer when asked how she’s been doing.
I guess it’s always changing," she says. "What else can I say? I just wake up each day in a slightly different place —grief is like a moving river, so that’s what I mean by ‘it’s always changing’."
"It’s a strange thing to say — because I’m at heart an optimistic person, but I would say in some ways it just gets worse. It’s just that the more time that passes, the more you miss someone. In some ways it gets worse. That’s what I would say."
Stars Descend On ‘Dark Knight’ Premiere
July 17th, 2008
Heath Ledger is the star of the Dark Knight premiere, even though he cannot be present at the AMC Loews Lincoln Square event.
Though his life was cut short in January, Heath’s memory lives on. Attendees including Ethan Hawke, dashing through in a brown-and-white baseball cap and beige suit; Josh Hartnett, who twirls through in a brown cap; and Gossip Girl’s Ed Westwick, who is dressing his curly hair with a side part, pay tribute.
Maggie Gyllenhaal, who is in the movie, has no time for print, which is also what happened with Heath at his last premiere for I’m Not There – and at 2005’s Casanova. (I was fortunate enough to spend time with him at The Regency Hotel during the I’m Not There press day. He seemed like a great guy – totally dateable.)
It’s no wonder he was a hit with the ladies. In November 2005, he and then-girlfriend Michelle Williams stepped out for the Gotham Awards. According to my file, “They were giving each other goo-goo eyes as he cradled her during TV interviews.”
Sadly, we must move forward without his towering presence.
Christian Bale, who plays Batman, shares a story about Heath playing The Joker.
“He did a fantastic job,” Christian says. “He enjoyed playing the part immensely and I was glad I got to experience working with him and watching him develop into character. Personally I enjoy anybody who immerses themselves to such an incredible degree. I enjoy that too. I recognize how ridiculous it is, and I find it incredibly funny. To be honest, the more serious people get with any role, the more humor I find in it. I find that with Heath.”
According to co-star Aaron Eckhart, Heath was a doting dad to Matilda, 2.
“Everybody on this movie had kids. Maggie, Christian … in the trailer, it was all kids talk. I’m the only one who didn’t have a kid. Heath had just had a baby, Maggie just had a baby, Christian has two kids, Gary Oldman had two kids. It was a lot of baby pictures and a lot of baby talk. That was mostly what was going on. I met Maggie’s, I met Christian’s, I didn’t meet Heath’s but it was a lot of pictures.”
Michael Caine calls Heath “very ordinary. He was a very quiet man, and very, very nice.”
He says, “I worked with Heath very early on. I’d seen his performance. We just sat there talking. He was very ordinary. He wasn’t preparing – you know – like ‘please leave me, I’ve got to be with my script.’ Some actors do that. We’re just talking, and the director said ‘OK we’re ready,’ and Heath goes into the elevator and he has to come out of the elevator and into a party and take over. Batman and I are giving a party. Out came this guy, The Joker, and I stood there absolutely stunned. I didn’t have any dialogue or I would’ve forgotten it. He went straight past me and over to Batman. I just sat there flabbergasted. Right through it we just talked, and he would do it over and over again – just come out with this energy.”
He adds, “I said to him one day ‘Jesus, I’m too old to do anything as energetic as this.’ And I said ‘wait a minute, I couldn’t have done anything as energetic as this when I was your age.’ It’s astonishing.”
Heath surely would’ve delighted in the Batmobile staged outside on the black carpet, and the motorcycle prop used in the movie that greets partygoers on the way into the screening.
The Dark Knight is in theaters Friday.
Report: Michelle Williams Clashing with Heath’s Family
June 24th, 2008 / Author: OK! Staff
According to a report in today’s New York Post, not all is well between the family of late actor Heath Ledger and his former live-in love Michelle Williams, so much so that the Dawson’s Creek star may boycott the July 14 NYC premiere of his film, The Dark Knight.
The source of the tension is reportedly the Oscar-nominated actor’s last will — or rather the fact that he never updated it, even after he fathered a child with Williams. The most recent will on file for the actor was written in 2003, almost two full years before the Oct. 2005 birth of daughter Matilda, and stipulates that his immediate family was to inherit his millions.
And even though it has since been decided that young Matilda will be the beneficiary of her father’s estate, the Post’s source alleges that Michelle is worried about the ability of Heath’s dad, Kim Ledger, to act as executor of the will. According to the report, Kim allegedly mishandled his own inheritance after the passing of his father, losing a large sum of money for himself and his siblings.
Neither the Ledger family nor a rep for Michelle commented on this story to the Post.
Heath’s Daughter Left Out of Will
March 10th, 2008
In a surprising development Monday, it was revealed that neither Heath Ledger’s ex-girlfriend Michelle Williams nor their 2-year-old daughter Matilda stand to receive anything from the late actor’s estate, as neither of them are mentioned in a will filed in a Manhattan Court.
However, it should be noted that this oversight is not a matter of spite over Heath’s crumbled relationship with his Brokeback Mountain co-star Michelle. Rather, her and Matilda’s absence from the will arise from the fact that it was originally written in 2003, before the couple had ever met, and never updated.
According to the document and its accompanying paperwork, which list the Oscar-nominated star’s New York City assets as $145,000, Heath’s entire estate is to be divided among his parents and three sisters.
Heath’s father Kim Ledger has previously stated that Michelle and Matilda would be provided for, regardless of the will.
Michelle Williams Breaks Silence on Heath’s Death
February 1st, 2008 / Author: cwillett
Following last week’s sudden death of actor Heath Ledger, his former girlfriend, and mother of his daughter, Matilda, Michelle Williams, has remained silent — until today, when the actress released the following statement:
"Please respect our need to grieve privately. My heart is broken. I am the mother of the most tender-hearted, high-spirited, beautiful little girl who is the spitting image of her father. All that I can cling to is his presence inside her that reveals itself every day. His family and I watch Matilda as she whispers to trees, hugs animals, and takes steps two at a time, and we know that he is with us still. She will be brought up with the best memories of him."
OK! Exclusive: Busy Phillips Waits With Michelle Williams’ Mom
January 23rd, 2008
While actress Michelle Williams makes her way back to the Brooklyn home she once shared with former boyfriend Heath Ledger, OK! has learned that not only is her mother Carla waiting to console her, but so is Michelle’s good friend, actress Busy Phillips.
The pair starred together in the WB hit Dawson’s Creek, which first put Michelle in the public eye and have been good friends since. In fact, Busy is godmother to little Matilda.
Wednesday afternoon, Busy was spotted exiting Michelle’s rowhouse in the Boerum Hill area of Brooklyn, where one local tells OK!, Heath and Michelle "were just like any other family… walking the baby in her stroller, going grocery shopping. You’d never know they were big-time celebrities."
It is also being rumored that Naomi Watts may be in the house, though OK! has not been able to confirm. Also, Keri Russell was in the neighborhood, passing ny Michelle’s residence. OK! was unable to confirm if it was to visit her. She refused to comment to OK!. Both actresses are former WB starlets.
By Jocelyn Vena
