Heath Ledger's Death 'Left a Hole' in His Daughter's Life - At 17 She Feels Happy Thanks to Her Stepdad

Australian actor Heath Ledger was one versatile actor and a doting father. Unfortunately, he did not get to embrace fatherhood fully since he died prematurely. However, he will forever be remembered as a great father. On the other hand, his former fiance Michelle Williams struggled to back get into dating until she found love again.

Heath Ledger was an Australian actor. He was part of many Australian productions before moving to New York to further his acting career.

During his short-lived life, he was part of many iconic films like "The Dark Knight" and the fan-favorite coming-of-age movie, "10 Things I Hate About You." Although he was making strides in the film industry, Ledger always spoke about his daughter and fiance, Michelle Williams.

The couple welcomed their daughter Matilda in 2005, and the Ledger confessed he felt useless during the birth of his child. He was amazed by the intensity of childbirth and the strength women needed to survive.

It was a life-changing thing to witness, and Ledger gushed over how much he loved his newborn daughter and fiance. "Matilda's just a beautiful kid," said the proud father.

When deciding on his daughter's name, Ledger said he loved how ancient the name was. He thought it was a name that held meaning and beauty. It just rolled off the tongue, making it feel perfect for his daughter.

After Matilda was born, Ledger was a hands-on father that fully embraced his home-making duties. He said his life consisted of making breakfast and lunch, cleaning up, going to the market to get fresh vegetables and fruits, making dinner, and cleaning up.

Since Matilda was still small, sleep was a luxury and was not always guaranteed after his extensive routine, but Ledger would not have traded his life for anything because he loved every second of it.

For Matilda's first Christmas, the couple decided to stay in snowy New York to give their daughter her first white Christmas, but Ledger had plans to take her to Australia and spend as much time as possible at the ocean.

Williams and Ledger were never in a hurry to walk down the aisle; in fact, the actor said he didn't need a piece of paper to be sure that he loved Williams and that she was his soulmate, so they busked in the joys of parenthood.

There is no doubt that Williams and Ledger loved being parents; the actor even said that becoming a father was the best thing to ever happen to him. He could not get enough of how wise and observant Matilda was as a baby.

However, when Ledger was prepping and filming "The Dark Knight," where he played the Joker, he struggled to sleep. The character required a lot of energy and mental strength, which he described as "a psychopathic, mass-murdering, schizophrenic clown with zero empathy."

One time Ledger confessed that his body was so exhausted, yet he could not sleep, and his mind kept thinking about this character.

Heath Ledger's Unexpected Death

When Matilda was two years old, Ledger died from an accidental drug overdose in January 2008. He and Williams had been separated for only five months.

On the third anniversary of her former fiance, Williams confessed that she struggled to get over the loss of Ledger because his death took a toll on her and her daughter's life.

Ledger was remembered for being a doting father to his two-year-old daughter, and his absence would forever leave a hole in her life.

Williams also struggled to get herself back into the dating scene. She admitted to feeling pressured to fill the loss of Ledger with someone who would be a father figure for Matilda, but she realized that it was impossible because she wanted Ledger, who was never coming back.

Therefore, Williams got rid of that pressure and worked toward creating a happy life for herself and her daughter. She stopped feeding into the inclination to have a partner and focused on Matilda's well-being.

However, grieving the loss of Ledger was something she took day by day. Some days she spent the entire day crying, thinking about the impact it would have on her daughter's life, but some days she conquered and showed up for herself and Matilda.

Williams continues to maintain a successful acting career. She remembered one sunny day, with Matilda in her swimsuit and riding a bike to see her friends.

As Matilda smiled and waved at her when she rode off, Williams realized her hard work and perseverance had paid off because she and her daughter were finally leading happy lives.

Williams got emotional because it became clear that she had surpassed the threshold of just surviving and reached a point where she was at peace.

The actress also expressed that she has learned to accept her circumstances and personal experiences because it is easy to think her life would not be this hard if Matilda had her father, but that would not be right and fair to her daughter.

However, Ledger's admirable role as a father was captured by many paparazzi photos and impacted many fans. Once in a while, fans will remember the father-daughter relationship and share their special pictures.

For Matilda's 17th birthday, fans also shared Ledger's picture with his daughter as they roamed the streets of New York, along with heartwarming images of Ledger bonding with Matilda as a baby. As Matilda gets older, she is not only resembling her father physically, but she has also inherited his hobbies and mannerisms.

Matilda Ledger Is Taking after Her Father

Williams and Ledger shared a long and loving relationship; even though the actress admitted that he had his demons to fight, she always adored how much of a good father he was.

As the years pass by, William realizes that there is no way she would forget Ledger because so much of him lives through Matilda.

Williams said her daughter is wise beyond her years because as soon as she realized that her father had died, she matured quickly.

However, one hobby Matilda has taken, which her father was also good at, is chess. Close sources said Ledger was obsessed with chess and even won a championship when he was 10.

Now Matilda is said to be getting good at it too, and it's special because she uses Ledger's old chess board. The actor reportedly had been planning to direct and act in a feature film about a chess legend in the adaptation of Walter Tevis's book "The Queen's Gambit."

Matilda did not only inherit her father's hobbies but also his inquisitive personality. Like her father, she is also a ball of energy, revealed Ledger's father, Kim.

Kim reiterated, “Heath never slept from when he was two, and Matilda's like that. 'I mean, she's just got this ball of energy and radiates this little aura. Heath was kind of like that." To finish it off, Matilda also has her father's striking features, like his wavey hair and structured facial features.

As Williams watched her daughter grow, she was proud of how well she interacted with other children. When they dressed up for Halloween, the actress was an owl, and Matilda was Shirley Temple. Williams explained that her daughter enjoyed listening to the old-school singers and watching them dance.

Matilda is now a grown 17-year-old, and she and her mother have stood beside each other through the ups and downs of life. Williams might not have rushed to find love again, but she never gave up, and her daughter eventually stepped in to help her find happiness again.

Matilda Played Matcher Maker for Her Mother

After losing Ledger, Williams stepped back from dating and lost interest in her career for a while. The actress confessed that she had promised herself to be a part of the film "Blue Valentine" once director Derek Cianfrance had the budget.

However, once the film was ready to be made, Williams was skeptical about doing it. She did not think the movie was worth it enough to disrupt her daughter's life; therefore, she would not be able to travel to California.

Cianfrance proposed something irresistible to Williams; he promised to reset the film on the East Coast, where she would not be more than an hour away from Brooklyn or Upstate New York.

Williams was grateful that the director could make these amendments for her, but she was also upset that her long break was officially over.

But the actress realized that the movies she made were a legacy she left behind for her daughter. One of the films she did as a dedication to Matilda was "The Wizard of Oz."

Williams expressed that she wanted the movie to be something that Matilda could see. Her daughter was six at the time, and Williams was proud that her daughter believed she could fly for a few years.

The mother and daughter celebrated Matilda's sixth birthday when she was still filming "The Wizard of Oz" in Detroit, so to make it special, she brought cupcakes from work, and they sat in the corner of their hotel room and listened to Mazuk's version of Patrick Swayze's "She like the Wind."

Williams kept her daughter out of the limelight, like her romantic life. She moved from New York, where Ledger was often photographed with Matilda and bought a farmhouse in Update New York to give her daughter a quiet environment to grow up in.

Williams married Phil Elverum secretly in 2018, but their marriage was short-lived as the couple separated in 2019. But found love again when her then 14-year-old daughter played matchmaker with director Thomas Kail.

Kail and Williams met while she was filming "Venom 2," and they made their relationship public when they were photographed in London doing baby shopping.

Before Kail came into her life, Williams had stopped hoping that she would one day give Matilda siblings. It was something she longed for a while, but when she turned six she relieved herself from that pressure too.

But the future is full of surprises because since marrying Kail in 2020, Williams has had two children with him. She welcomed a son Hart in 2020, then in November 2022, it was announced that the couple had their second child together.

The mother of three admitted that she worried about Matilda when she married and had a child shortly after, but Matilda could not have been happier for her mother.

In fact, Williams is grateful that Matilda gets to have a male figure in her life to look up to; since her father died when she was two and her grandfather Kim lived in Australia, it had always been her and Matilda.

Luckily for them, Williams', her eldest child, also had a great relationship with Kail. The two were photographed in New York with big smiles on their faces. They also had their hands full with shopping bags looking like best friends rather than father and daughter.

The "Venom 2" star is proud of how life turned out for her and Matilda, and despite all the hardships she faced, there's nothing she would change.

Williams has experienced several challenges in her life, and as a mother, she said she was always honest with Matilda about the kind of love she and Ledger shared. She said, "I always say to Matilda, your father loved me before anybody thought I was talented, or pretty or had nice clothes."

Therefore, she always told her daughter to live a life that allowed her to freely embrace who she is, and now Williams feels fortunate enough to have found someone that loves her wholeheartedly.

Matilda will now visit her grandparents in Australia. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Kim could not see his granddaughter for two years.

Kim worried that Matilda would forget her roots, but he credited her granddaughter for being strong-willed like her father because she told her mother she wanted to visit Australia.