The world lost an amazing actor in 2008 when news spread that Heath Ledger was found dead in his Manhattan apartment. Ledger was only 28 years old at the time of his death and the news shocked the world. The actor at the time was only months away from releasing the movie that won him an Oscar posthumously. It was the defining role of his career, the role that truly showed what an incredible talent he really was.

Now ten years later, we are still left feeling a sense of loss. It’s crazy to think that ten years have already passed since his death. There are many actors just like him that died too young and the list just seems to be growing. It’s impossible not to look back on Ledger's career and not wonder how much farther he would have gone had he lived. He was known to be fearless and go the distance when it came to his craft. He preferred the gritty roles as opposed to the ones that could have made him commercially famous. It’s been a decade since his death and we have to wonder, how well did we really know the actor while he was alive? Check out these 15 things about Heath Ledger only Michelle Williams could tell us.

His Father Believes It's His Son's Fault 

It’s hard to argue with that logic when Heath Ledger took the pills that ended his life. During the time of his death, many people had commented on Ledger being depressed, that the role of The Joker had taken a toll on him. He was the one that chose to stay alone in his hotel room instead of seeking help from others. He could have called his ex-girlfriend Michelle Williams if he needed help, but he instead chose to deal with his stress alone. While it's easy for an outsider to wonder why he didn't seek help, mental illness is difficult to understand and can be quite paralyzing. Since his death, Heath Ledger’s father Kim has spoken out about the tragedy.

“It was totally his fault,” Kim Ledger said in an interview. “It was no one else’s.

He reached for [the pills]. He put them in his system. You can’t blame anyone else in that situation. That’s hard to accept because I loved him so much and was so proud of him.”

His Friends Are Still Rocked Over It All

When it comes to the passing of loved ones, some say that time heals all. But in the case of Heath Ledger, his friends are still broken up over the passing of their friend. Not that we would ever expect anyone to forget Ledger, but sometimes, the passing of time can help ease the pain. Busy Philipps’ best friend is Michelle Williams; the two worked together on Dawson’s Creek. She was also close to Ledger at the time of his death. On the tenth anniversary of his passing, she found herself crying in the car as she was driving, listening to Time to Pretend by MGMT. She posted the video on her Instagram with this post: “I was just driving and I was thinking about my friend Heath who died 10 years ago and this song came on, ‘Time to Pretend,'” she says in the post.

“It came out after he passed away and I remember when it came out, because [I thought] it made me think of him. I just thought he would have liked this song.

And for some reason, every time I hear this song… it’s weird.”

His Sister Warned Him That It Could Happen

Sometimes, we hear these eerie things about actors getting warnings before their death and it hurts our hearts just a little more. Why was it that Heath Ledger died in the very same way that his sister Kate warned him about? “His sister was on the phone with him the night before telling him not to take the prescription medications with the sleeping tablets,” Kim Ledger continued.

“He said, ‘Katie, Katie, I’m fine now. I know what I’m doing.' [Heath] would have had no idea.”

It makes the situation all the sadder. If only he had listened to his sister, then he could still be alive today. We will never know.

He Was Interested In Directing

It’s not surprising to hear that Ledger wanted to try his hand at directing. He wasn’t the kind of actor that liked splashy blockbuster roles and so, he was never one to go after the big bucks. He also put a lot of soulfulness in his roles and it’s likely that he would have done the same as a director.

At the time of his passing, he was actually supposed to make his directorial debut in a movie starring Ellen Page. The movie he wanted to work on was the chess drama The Queen’s Gambit.

He was definitely not the kind of actor who liked to always do the same thing. He stated once in an interview in 2007, “I feel like I’m wasting time if I repeat myself.” He was definitely a heck of a talent.

It Wasn't The Joker's Fault 

Many people believe that Heath Ledger's death is in part due to the stress of playing The Joker. When Ledger played The Joker, he was immersed in the character. He did everything that he could to prepare for the role including hanging clown pictures all over his trailer and researching serial killers. Fans all over believed that the fact that Ledger immersed himself in the character was what led him to his tragic downfall. He couldn’t deal with how messed-up his character was and when the role was over, he didn’t know how to live normally again. His sister, however, says that it couldn’t be further from the truth. “Honestly, that’s been the biggest thing for us as a family,” says Kate Ledger, Heath’s elder sister, by phone.

"He had an amazing sense of humor and certainly playing The Joker, for him it was one big gag. He had so much fun doing that. It was actually the exact opposite.

There was no doom and gloom. That was a shock to me that people even thought that, really.”

He Thought He Ruined His Chance To Work With Mel

Right after 10 Things I Hate About You, Heath Ledger was just breaking out in Hollywood and when he got the opportunity to audition for a Mel Gibson movie, he jumped at the opportunity. He had to do a screen test for the role of Mel’s son in the movie The Patriot.

He was pretty nervous when he auditioned and flubbed his lines. He stopped and apologized to the director Roland Emmerich and Mel Gibson for wasting their time. He was so sure that he screwed up his chances for the role.

Mel and Roland thought differently and cast Ledger. It was his first major role since his teen-acting days and a big opportunity for the actor. They took a chance on him and it all worked out.

There Was A Time In His Career When He Felt Owned

When it comes to being a huge celebrity, many actors want it so badly, until they get it. When he did A Knight’s Tale, it was a big career move for Ledger and it upped his fame. It was the first time he started to struggle with being famous. The producers plastered him all over Los Angeles with the words “He will rock you" and people went gaga over it. Matt Amato, the director of the movie, stated,

“He wanted fame. And then when he got it, he didn’t want it. He was mortified, and he felt owned.”

The producers said he was their “secret weapon” when it came time to tour for the film. Ledger, however, didn’t like having to sell himself in that way.

He Suffered From Chronic Insomnia

According to Heath Ledger’s father Kim, the reason why Ledger took all those pills was that he was trying to do everything at once and was surviving on very little sleep. From the time he was young, Ledger suffered from insomnia and that was something that was prevalent in his adult years.

“He was a young guy that traveled all the time for work,” Heath’s father said. “Even as a 2-year-old, he hardly ever slept. He was trying to work and travel and do everything in a short space of time.”

We all know that lack of sleeping can certainly affect one’s mental health, so it was no wonder that Heath started to feel low. The real tragedy is that his death was accidental and he clearly left behind a lot of people who cared for him deeply. “Heath mixed a couple of drugs together with sleeping tablets and he’s gone forever,” Kim said. “That’s something we just have to deal with.”

He Didn’t Want To Be Considered A Heartthrob

What Heath Ledger learned when he played the character in A Knight’s Tale was how easily you could turn into a heartthrob with the right looks and attitude. That was the last thing that he wanted. There were many opportunities available to the actor that may have made him even more money or brought him higher fame, but it wasn’t what he was interested in and that’s why he ended up turning down roles like Spiderman. He was interested in the gritty roles and that’s how he got to work in films like Lords of Dogtown.

“As you see in the documentary, he could have very easily gone down that heartthrob career [path] and done a lot of those roles, and he chose not to right from the very beginning," said Kate.

"He wanted to be taken seriously as an actor. He was always in command of what he did. He wouldn’t just do something for the money.”

Michelle Williams Didn’t Want To Be Part Of The Documentary

There is no doubt about it, Heath Ledger and Michelle Williams shared a love that transcends death. Regardless of the fact that the two were no longer together at the time of his passing, she loved him deeply. For whatever reason, they couldn’t seem to make a relationship work, but they shared a daughter and Williams cared a great deal for Ledger. Although the directors had her blessing when it came time to making the documentary I Am Heath Ledger, Williams did not want to be part of it nor was she one of the people who was interviewed for it. His death is still an emotional hardship in her life. “She just felt she was not ready to be on camera and be talking about Heath, which we respected,” says co-director Derik Murray.

His Interest In Michelle Williams Was Evident Right Away

Heath Ledger and Michelle Williams met on the set of Brokeback Mountain and that was where their love affair started. The two really fell hard for one another and even had a child together — Matilda — before breaking up in 2007. Ledger’s interest in the actress became evident to the cast and crew pretty early on in filming. During one scene in the movie where their characters go sledding, the toboggan ended up flipping over and Williams had to go to the hospital. It was obvious to Ang Lee, the director of the movie, that Ledger showed his feelings for her at the hospital.

“When we reached the hospital, we saw Heath holding her hand trying to comfort her.

It was pretty obvious he was interested in her.” The two seemed meant to be right from the start.

Matt Damon Was In Awe Of Him

There were many actors who came in contact with Heath Ledger and were forever affected by his presence and Matt Damon was one of them. Damon’s first impression of the actor when working on the movie The Brothers Grimm together was that Ledger was “too bright for this world.” Although the movie wasn’t the best example of their impressive acting skills, there were times that Damon was just in awe of Ledger’s acting abilities. He went so far as to say that Ledger was the best actor he had ever seen.

“There were things that he did where I couldn't have got there in three lifetimes," he said. "And there were ways in which he was like a puppy dog. You wanted to protect him.”

Like everyone else, Damon was rocked by his friend’s death. “[His death was] just f***ing pointless,” Matt said.

Health Ledger Gave His Friend His Grand Piano

Ben Harper always wanted a grand piano and one night, he and his friend Heath Ledger were playing music on the actor’s grand piano. He must have loved playing on it because Ledger made sure to get the musician one. After that night, Harper went home to catch some sleep. He woke to hear a noise outside and when he went to investigate, he realized that a grand piano was being delivered. Ledger had sent his grand piano to his friend’s house.

When the musician protested this enormous show of generosity, Ledger said, “It’s supposed to be with you.”

The only thing that Ledger asked in return was for a lullaby for his daughter Matilda who was to be born soon. “Nothing has ever been asked of me that’s that precious,” Harper said in the documentary.

His Schedule Had Him Drained

When it comes to having a back-to-back movie schedule, sometimes, actors can find themselves drained. Although Heath Ledger had just wrapped up The Dark Knight, he was back on set filming The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus. He had what many people considered to be a strenuous and draining shooting schedule. According to his father, it was part of the reason why he was taking the pills that lead to his death.

“There’s so much pressure on them to perform, so even though your body is telling you that it’s not good and needs time,

it’s like ‘just take these painkillers and keep going,'” Kim said. “That was the case with Heath. He had to be back on set to finish [the next day]. They were doing night shoots in the freezing cold and he had a weak chest anyway. He’d caught this [cough] and just couldn’t shake it, but he thought he had to because he wanted to get the movie done.”

He Was An Avid Chess Player

That was why he wanted to direct a movie based on the game of chess. Ledger had been playing chess since he was quite young and became an avid player. In fact, he was so good that even at the young age of 11, according to his father, he was becoming difficult to beat. He was actually trying to reach the Grand Master status in chess before he died. He had a passion for directing, he had already directed a few of Ben Harper’s videos and his debut was going to be the movie The Queen’s Gambit. The movie is based on the novel about a chess player addicted to pills. The irony isn’t lost on anyone. The movie was in motion to begin, but Ledger died before production even got started.