Heath and Heather

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I met Heath Ledger in 2000. I was working on From Hell and he was shooting A Knights Tale which were both being shot in and around Prague.

It was one of the best and worst times of my life - I was in a Hollywood movie, shooting scenes with Johnny Depp and Robbie Coltrane but behind all the glitz and the glamour there was a sour taste to the whole experience: I (unlike many of the other actors working on the film), had been out in Prague for nearly three months, it was lonely living out of a hotel room and I had terrible anxiety and self doubt with regards to my part in the movie itself - coupled with some unpleasant incidents on set, I felt very isolated and vulnerable.

One evening during that time, some of the actors from my film had arranged to meet some of the actors from the other film at a night spot in Prague and I happened to be in that very same bar when they arrived. Out of everyone who was there, it was Heath who asked me if I would like to join their party, some of the guys had said hello to me when they arrived and Heath had deduced I must have been working on the other film and that I was on my own.

I had a really great time that night, and on a couple occasions Heath invited me over to his apartment to hang out with his friends. It was on one of those occasions that this photo was taken. Heath had discovered that I was an artist and that I was also a photographer and he had with him an old bashed up camera which he handed to me and asked if I wouldn't mind taking some shots of him and Heather Graham.

That will be my enduring memory of him - how he was completely genuine and his startling kindness - he made me feel included when I had been excluded and made my memories of Prague a great deal happier than they might have been... I can't imagine how devastated the people who knew him well must be.

I wanted to share this with the dA community as it's been reported that far right extremists intend to picket and disrupt his funeral. Know this, Heath Ledger was a good person, a kind person: please don't let anyone persuade you otherwise. His loss should be mourned, not mocked.

Rest in peace Heath...