14 DAY TRIAL // Ever since Heath Ledger passed away a little over a year ago, Hollywood stars who had the pleasure of working with him have obstinately refused to speak about what it was like to work on the same movie set with him. Naomi Watts, former lover and co-star of Heath, tells Parade magazine that Heath was just as good as the media says he was – and then some.
Naomi and Watts first met while shooting for “Ned Kelly” and, from what the actress says, she was impressed with him the moment she laid her eyes on him. Taking on a character with Heath by her side, Naomi reveals, was truly a dream come true, since there was a lot to be learned from him by just watching him. Quite understandably, falling in love with him came naturally afterwards, Naomi says.
“I hadn’t really been that familiar with his work. Then, when I got to the set and did that first scene with him, I was like, ‘Wow! This guy is alive.’ It was just something deep in his eyes. You could look into them, and they would tell a thousand stories in one glance. There was a wonderful mixture of power and fragility at work in everything he did, which just pulls you in. His strength didn’t scare you. It intrigued you. And his fragility touched you.” Watts tells Parade magazine.
While they made for one of Hollywood’s most beloved couples, Naomi and Heath went their separate ways in 2004 when, because the distance made keeping their relationship alive more and more difficult, they decided to split amicably. They remained good friends until Heath’s tragic death in 2008. “It’s still incredibly difficult,” the actress says about how it’s like to get used to live without Heath.
In the same interview, Naomi also speaks in more detail about her relationship with her current partner, actor Liev Schreiber. They have no plans to marry anytime soon, she says. “It’s not like I’ve grown up having this dream of a fairy-tale wedding. My mother married twice and had two divorces. And Liev comes from the same kind of background. Maybe one day we’ll just wake up and go, ‘Hey, let’s do this.’ And maybe not. He and I have a family. We’re very much together.” Naomi explains.