Chat With Heath Ledger...30 March 1999

Studio I Chat

MARISE: Hey everyone it's Marise Nazero and you know what? I'm feeling a lot of love today because we're going to be talking about Ten Things I Hate About You starring Heath Ledger.

HEATH: hi (laughs)

MARISE: you guys might remember him from the TV series Roar. Thanks a lot for coming in

HEATH: Thank you, it's good to be in here.

MARISE: But you know what I gotta ask you something cause I noticed earlier I was doing some research, your name's Heath.

HEATH: MMMMM

MARISE: now this movie is based supposedly on, it's a contemporary version of taming of the shrew right?

HEATH: an adaptation yes.

MARISE: and your name it's from a Shakespearean character is that correct?

HEATH: well no, actually it's from Wuthering Heights, Heathcliffe, yeah, and my sister is Catherine, Catia, so umm my mum thought it was romantic.

MARISE: AAWWWWWWWW

HEATH: (laughs) yeah

MARISE: what a great mother. Well there's a lot of questions coming in. Dudish wants to know why did you get into acting?

HEATH: I don't know why I got into acting, I can't remember getting into acting I can just remember acting. I can remember doing theatre, I can remember doing theatre workshops and television and then I blinked my eyes and suddenly it's an occupation (laughs) and I love it. That's all it was you know it was a release it's a form of expression you know it's like why do people paint.

MARISE: well it could've been your mum too.

HEATH: it could've been my mum I had no great, no real influence in the family no one ever dragged me out to screen-tests and pampered me and padded me up I just. My older sister she actually she was in theatre and I watched a lot of her theatre when I was younger so that inspired me.

MARISE: you have a lot of females in your life there

HEATH: I have I have three sisters

MARISE: you do?

HEATH: Yes

MARISE: oh goooood

(Heath Laughs)

MARISE: onejumppunt - I love that screen name what is the hardest part of acting?

HEATH: Oh boy! What's the hardest part of acting?

MARISE: they really wanna know

HEATH: oh gosh I don't know what's the hardest part of acting! I suppose keeping that fine line between being real and then taking it past that realism ya know what I mean and playing it up

a little and playing it on the words and keeping it realistic you know what I mean? Umm I don't know I think that's hardest thing about acting so far Umm other than that I don't know I think it's all pretty hard

MARISE: well I'm not gonna give the movie away but there's this really great scene where you are wooing Julia Stiles and you sing, what song do you sing?

HEATH: actually I sing ummm can't take my eyes off of you

MARISE:really are you a singer?

HEATH: I'm not a singer but, uhh I was a singer that day (laughs) ummm well yeah I felt like a rock star for a day we went into a studio and put it down on track and then we did the whole classic

things which they used to do in old musicals which is we'd take it out and they'd play back and put it over loud speakers and I did this dance number up and down the staircase while I was singing the song.

MARISE: well we gotta talk about that later we've got too many people who wanna talk to you

HEATH: Yeah

MARISE: Pix104 wants to know any pranks pulled on the set if so what was the best?

HEATH: ummm I can't remember any pranks that were pulled on the set to tell you the truth

MARISE: really with the cast?

HEATH: Oh gosh I think there were a few

MARISE: you mean with Joseph Gordon Leditt, Levitt

HEATH: Umm I think there were a few but I can't remember. I think Gil; the director was always pulling pranks. But you know I can't remember any of them

MARISE: so long ago

HEATH: yeah

MARISE: question from inaudible nick -what actors do you want to work with?

HEATH: Ummm I wanna work with so many actors, that's a really hard question for me to answer it's like uhh asking what my favorite movie is I couldn't just pick one, there are too many. Ummm I'd love to work with Jack Nicholson, I'd love to work with Mel Gibson I'd love to work with some dead actors I'd love to work with Gene Kelly(laughs) and Judy Garland I'd love to work opposite Judy she's my favorite.

MARISE: so you're into ahh musicals then

HEATH: yeah absolutely I love musicals I love Gene Kelly he's the greatest.

MARISE: and you can dance

HEATH: I can dance yeah (winks)

MARISE: we've both seen that in the movie

HEATH: the movie doesn't attest to that! (laughs)

MARISE: M-ladycara wants to know: I know this question isn't ten things I hate about you but I can't resist. I love Roar, after it was taken off rumors were spread that it might start up again, can you set it straight is there any chance we might see Fergus and Connor bickering again?

HEATH: (laughs) Umm no, there's no chance you'll ever see that again I miss it and I'm sorry it's not playing it was a great show and I had so much fun doing it but it just didn't get, there weren't

that many people watching it unfortunately, the people who watched it loved it and the people who didn't, didn't know about it. So you know I don't think so.

MARISE: well how long was it on it was a season wasn't it?

HEATH: yeah it was like a 13 episode experiment movie

MARISE: experiment

HEATH: (laughs) yeah

MARISE: well it was a good experiment

HEATH: it was a good experiment

MARISE: Candini wants to know, did you work with Keri Russell before she was in Roar?

HEATH: yeah uhhh no, I've never worked with Keri before. It was the first time we'd met and umm she was amazing sweet and you know she loves all the things that she does, she's extremely professional and uh you know, she's gorgeous and she can act so, no I hadn't worked with her before.

MARISE: and I figure it's just like your co-star in Ten Things I Hate About You Julia Stiles?

HEATH: yeah

MARISE: she was like .. Yeah

HEATH: she's incredible and she's hot she's got like movies galore coming out, she's also just finished doing Hamlet and that was a really good role playing Ophelia and ahh she's doing O right

now which is an adaptation of Othello so she's on the ball, she's really knocking up these Shakespeare movies which is good and she's gorgeous yeah

MARISE: now what about you do you wanna do more Shakespeare?

HEATH: I do, I do but I'm the kind of person that if they asked me to do Hamlet today I wouldn't take it, I don't think I'd take it for another 20 years because you know, it's something you have to really be ready for you have to prepare for getting your arm bitten off, things like that...

MARISE: but it was safe doing this contemporary version.

HEATH: yeah yeah it was set in a high school it wasn't original words or anything so it was pretty safe (laughs)

MARISE: umm Burtmela: you look like an outdoors guy what are your interests?

HEATH: I am an outdoors guy

MARISE: ok everybody you gotta show em like (gets Heath to show that he has a hole in the elbow of his jumper) so there you go

HEATH: This is my holy jumper so good, sweater. UMMM outdoors what do I do, I like to go outside I play sports I play tennis and I, umm, I snowboard and I used to surf a lot in Australia but I don't any more because I'm not in Australia

MARISE: you can surf in LA

HEATH: and umm that's' it, I walk and I just enjoy being outside. I like to go to the desert and I like to go out to the Joshua tree out here and uh

MARISE: do you climb?

HEATH: yeah it gets me in control sometimes when I climb

MARISE: how so?

HEATH: I just I concentrate I've got some friends who like to climb hard things yeah I don't jump off them though

MARISE: talk to the hand: ok they really wanna know are you dating

anybody?

HEATH: No I'm not (laughs) I hate that question. (laughs) no

MARISE: well you know I mean people want to know

HEATH: I know

MARISE: It's an innocent question so now you're gonna get tones of fan letters you realize this

HEATH: ahh I don't know

MARISE: do you have a website through that people can email you or anything?

HEATH: Yeah; yeah I think so there's a few funny little Roar pages, the estrogen page and stuff

MARISE: oh but you don't have any that you created

HEATH: no not that I've created, no.

MARISE: you should, you can get dates that way (Heath Laughs)

MARISE: mcddcuts wants to know: Heath what made you wanna cut your gorgeous hair short

HEATH: ummm I don't know it was just too long and I just wanted it out of my eyes and I've already finished two movies where it's long and brown and my hair is naturally light brown blonde anyway, so I thought just cut it off again and start fresh

MARISE: what made you get the highlights?

HEATH: a friend (laughs)

MARISE: it looks good

HEATH: yeah it's fun

MARISE: yeah it works on you

HEATH: yeah

MARISE: what kind of music do you listen to?

HEATH: Umm I listen to everything, I listen to things from Miles Davis to you know U2's one of my good favorite bands to just anything and everything that comes now. I was into commercial things for a while but you know, anything that feels good coming in here (points to one side of head)and coming out here (points to other side of head)

MARISE: Well are there any hot Australian bands that you listen to?

HEATH: Yeah there is actually there's Spider Bait which I listen to which is kinda like a punk rocker band that we feature on the album actually and in the movie, plug, (laughs) ummm and thorps

another great band called Powderfinger which I really love in Australia

MARISE: we also have an Australian band and they were just telling me uhh silverchair

HEATH: Silverchair of course

MARISE: they're coming in Thursday

HEATH: really? in here?

MARISE: they are coming in Thursday what time??

HEATH: Thursday?

MARISE: oh they didn't tell me what time probably 4 o'clock or something

HEATH: that's pretty cool Siverchair are great a good little band, actually I bought their new album the other day, what was it disco something

MARISE: I don't know we'll find out Thursday

HEATH: yeah (laughs) right around four (laughs)

MARISE: yeah around four thanks for telling me. Ok Djrarer says what was the most difficult things to do in Ten things

HEATH: Umm I think probably the singing and dancing physically was the most difficult one; the most physically demanding cos I had to run up and down the staircase almost 20 or 30 times Ummm I don't know it wasn't that difficult a movie to do because I was surrounded by really good people and really good actors and we all had a really good relationship and it was easy to listen to each other you know and to feed each other with work so I was blessed and lucky enough that that had an

ensemble cast that were extremely talented.

MARISE: would you ever do something like that for a real woman?

HEATH: Yes I would I'd do it

MARISE: we like this guy

(both laugh)

HEATH: Yeah I would

MARISE: alright go see the movie so you guys know what I'm talking about ok. Ember wants to know what do you think you would be doing right now if you weren't acting?

HEATH: Umm I don't know I'd probably be walking around the world (Laughs) a pair of sneakers and a back pack, lost searching for something to do. Umm no I'd be doing a number of things umm I'd be I'd really like to pain with my hands, I like to paint with my hands. I'd probably paint or have something to do with children, I'd like to teach children in something, maybe. I don't know I've never really thought about it because I've never done anything but this. Umm but there are so many

things I'd love to do I'd be content you know pushing trolleys if it made me happy and the day I stop being happy in this industry is the day I go home basically.

MARISE: put a backpack on and go

HEATH: yeah go get lost (laughs)

MARISE: what a great thing, you could get lost every now and then

HEATH: oh yeah I love getting lost

MARISE: gobhj wants to know what was it like working with Larissa

HEATH: it was great working with Larissa; she was a doll, she was a real sweetheart and, um, I didn't have many scenes with her, because she had the whole love things with Joseph Gordon Levitt

but uh it was great. Like I said before everyone on this we got along like hell, no bitching no fighting, hardly any pranks we were all best mates and I think that comes through in the movie. I think that warmth amongst the cast really shines. She was great to work with.

MARISE: well but also you have a chemistry that builds up between you and Julia

HEATH: absolutely, absolutely and that's something that you know it's a really great adaptation from Shakespeare, Shakespeare was really good a writing sensitivity towards his characters whether it was the hero or the heroine or you know if it was the bad guy, the villain you still loved them, you still cared for them and that's the one things that was adapted truly and accurately in our movie I think is you actually care about the characters, you care, you want them to fall in love, you

want them to get together, you want the asshole to get hit in the nose, you want you know (laughs)

MARISE: you can say that though, you do you really do.

HEATH: Yeah.

MARISE: (reading from chat questions) I heard you write poetry; can you recite some please please please please!!!

HEATH: Oh ummmm a lot of the poetry I write it's, um, it's more journal stuff you know what I mean; it's kinda like I have books that I write my poetry in and I also take a lot of photos and I kinda combine the two so it's a sorta visual poem diartry, diary...Diatry HUH! (laughs) diary thing, ummm, I don't think I could recite any for you (blushes) I'm so sorry, It's all private.

MARISE: do you have a favorite poet? that's a hard one

HEATH: I used to uuuuhhhhh I don't know I used to read a lot of Kahlil Gibran. I like his stuff but uh my latest poet that I like I don't know you could debate me on this but Terrence Mallick. He's a visual poet

MARISE: ahhh there you go (Heath Laughs) Excellent Uhh Solastuan wants to know what kind of surfboard did you use, do you use?

HEATH: did I use did I used to use, umm I had an exile surfboard (face light sup here) which is a local brand in Western Australia I believe and, ahh ,what else did I use Nev, nev surfboards,

doesn't mean anything (laughs)

MARISE: all I know is I remember seeing this stuff called umm sex wax

HEATH: Yeah you use that to wax your board

MARISE: you gotta wonder

HEATH: wax your stick (lots of laughter)

MARISE: you said it baby I didn't, ok? umm cheznachos wants to know can you name ten things you hate?

HEATH: not really hate's a really strong word; it's a good word to put in a title of a movie, but, ummm I hate, I hate all the classic corny things I could say war and anger and hate, I hate

hate

MARISE: ok

HEATH: hunger Ummm oh god this is really boring, I don't know, I'm sorry I can't

MARISE: ok what are ten things you love?

HEATH: ten things I love?

MARISE: here we go we'll take em to the other extreme

HEATH: uh my family my sisters, life, air, clean air Umm I love the ground, I love the ground to lay on I love the earth I love clean earth and I love ooh I love universal language, I love

universal language

MARISE: Like we're having right now

HEATH: um yeah like we're having right now well yeah I love the internet (laughs) that's a good one and Ten Things I Hate About You

MARISE: yaaaay

(Heath Laughs)

MARISE: great umm Tracyf wants to you are you going to be doing any TV appearances to promote Ten Things we're dying to see you well they can see you now.

HEATH: ummm yeah I did some stuff with some different TV things for MTV and Access Hollywood and stuff like that but, uh, no TV shows if that's what you're talking about

MARISE: you don't have anything coming up and brewing?

HEATH: no , no no no

MARISE: Ok, mkdgdg wants to know in Roar, why did Lisa Zane the queen stay with the old sorcerer could you just clear that up for me please?

HEATH: (laughing) Because she loved him! She loved the sorcerer she saw through the evil, she saw through the mask that's why I suppose (shrugs)

MARISE: people wanna know about Roar, they still like that show

HEATH: umm what else that's it I think she loved him and she wanted the power of whatever he was telling her that he was gonna give her I can't even remember why she was staying with him

(laughing).

MARISE: Ember wants to know, what's it like experiencing fame so young

HEATH: umm to tell you the truth I don't know because I'm still experiencing it now and and it's scary it's umm interesting and as long as you take control of it and also I don't think about it that

much at all I rarely think about it I'm barely thinking of the fact that I'm talking to millions of people now and umm I think as long as you keep that about yourself it won't affect anything else

MARISE: but I mean when this movie comes out you're gonna have more, you're just gonna get more and more fans here in the United States, that's ok cos you're cool

(Heath Laughs)

MARISE: to do you keep I mean really how do you just switch it off?

HEATH: friends you know, friends and going places friends are extremely important to me. you know I have a friend in Australia, Trevor who's like my brother who I've known all my life we've

grown up together since we were like 4 and you know when you have people like that it'd suck me down in a second he'd hit me so hard if I was to you know do anything stupid or go off the loose end and take advantage of all this, and I have good friends around me, I like to surround myself with good people, especially in Hollywood and I have that and I'm very thankful for that I live with that and uh cool you know.

MARISE: that's a good thing

HEATH: Yeah

MARISE: you got a lot of Roar fans you know that?

HEATH: Yeah I know

MARISE: Jellobean1 wants to know was it annoying to wear the same costume every Roar episode?

HEATH: (laughs) Hell yeah (laughs) It was so annoying I had to wear leather pants and this little leather top with chains and stuff, yes it was really annoying because we were shooting in heat, extreme heat in Queensland and riding horses and stuff. The one good things about it was usually when you're on set and you're in costume you have to you know what where you're sitting and how you're sitting and don't get it crumpled and don't get food on your clothes but I mean I was in like a Celtic roughneck outfit for like six weeks or six months so we could lie around on the ground or get it dirty and they wouldn't care.

MARISE: cos it was part of the character too so that was pretty fun.

HEATH: yeah

MARISE: I've heard a rumour that you're gonna play the title role in the next Mad Max film OHHHH (makes this big shocked face) ok are you?

HEATH: I don't know, I don't know

MARISE: that's pretty cool

HEATH: I'd like to

MARISE: that's pretty cool, so you're our new Mel Gibson then?

HEATH: I don't know, yeah I've been hearing this as well I mean that's a rumour I think it's a rumour because the same things been going around Australia in some magazines and stuff. But I don't

know, I don't even think they've thought about writing it yet I don't even think they're at that stage so if it does happen if I do get the opportunity I don't think it's gonna be for a while.

MARISE: it's be pretty cool, we do have a few you know we have a fairly big audience from Australia and they're obviously probably really happy to see you chatting here

HEATH: do you think they'd be up at this hour

MARISE: you never know yeah there's a lot of folks back there

HEATH: maybe not, whoever that is

MARISE: mypantsdontfit wants to know: did you do any research for your role reading Taming Of The Shrew or watching Kiss Me Kate?

HEATH: yes I did, yeah I watched Kiss me Kate and I also watched Taming Of The Shrew with Elizabeth Taylor and errr Richard Burton and, ah yeah I did do a bit of research, I didn't have a lot of time cos I'd just finishes a movie that I'd shot in Australia called Two Hands and I had two days literally to get on a plane and get to Seattle and start shooting this. But I think subconsciously in the back of my mind I did do a lot of research and thinking and I've read the play numerous times and uh I used bits and piece of Richard Burton's performance and mixed with a bit of kinda Jack Nicholson's you know his charm and his cheekiness in a way

MARISE: that's a good combo, yeah that Richard Burton performance was great

HEATH: except I wasn't allowed to be a drunk because it's a teen movie

MARISE: Morrighan wants to know do you know if the Movie Two Hands will be released in the USA

HEATH: umm they're still working that out right now, we took it to Sundance film festival and lots of people saw it there and they loved it and now they're just talking about who's gonna distribute

the movie different companies come together and they either fight over it, if we're lucky (laughs)

MARISE: tell us a little about Two Hands

HEATH: Two Hands it's, uh a black comedy about uhhh it's the Gangster life in Sydney, kings cross and Bryan Brown plays the lead gangster in the movie it's a really funny dark movie it that it's

MARISE: realistic?

HEATH: yeah it's extremely realistic it's got a lot of Australian subtleties like the humour is completely Australian. Americans find it hard to pick up on a lot of the Australian subtleties only because they haven't lived there and experienced it so you know

MARISE: like what?

HEATH: just from the shorts they wear to the beer they drink and the cars they drive you know those little things that are really funny in the movie and people over here are just gonna be like

HMMMMM

MARISE: well you probably have that too with American movies

HEATH: not so much because we grow up in our countries. I mean we do watch a lot of Australian Television and movies but the majority of what we watch is American based and that's why we do American accents and we know American films and we're comfortable with that and we understand the culture

MARISE: that's amazing to think about that. Golef what's to know do you like your fans to write you an email list, maybe this is going back to like

HEATH: Yeah sure absolutely but I umm I'm not hooked up right now so I can't, no, um, yeah of course I do, um ,I don't know, um next time I get hooked up, umm I'll do that I actually have emailed a few times the ones who are really nice.

MARISE: that's nice, that's really nice

HEATH: MMM

MARISE: that's going back to that dating things we were talking about

HEATH: Yeah (laughs)

MARISE: Purplevelvet wants to know what was your favorite scene in the movie?

HEATH: which movie?

MARISE: Ten Things

HEATH: oh oh oh um

MARISE: that's right we were talking about some other movies before

HEATH: thorps a few scenes but I think, um, my favorite, the stuff between David Krumholtz and Joseph Gordon Levitt the two young actors in the movie, they kinda like bounce off each other;

they have three or four scenes in the movie which just kill me umm but I can't give away too much I think yeah look out for those two they're actually a good little duo.

MARISE: igottopuke want to know what are your plans for the future?.... getting lost

HEATH: getting lost (laughs) yeah yeah umm my plans for the future are to establish a career here and then move out of here you know Ummm I don't know, that's another things I rarely stress

about in the future you know

MARISE: you live in the now

HEATH: yeah

MARISE: gotta

HEATH: yeah I got to

MARISE: well I appreciate you coming in!

HEATH: no thank you

MARISE: and sharing ten things which you love

HEATH: ten things that I hate about you

MARISE: the movie is Ten things I hate About You and it opens Wednesday, tomorrow 31st and go see it

HEATH: go see it you'll love it

MARISE: and come on back in

HEATH: yeah I will do, I will do

MARISE: and we'll see you again, bye every body

(Heath waves)