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Michelle Williams reminisced on her “special” ex Heath Ledger in an emotional podcast moment.
“Armchair Expert” co-host Dax Shepard “felt obligated to” bring up the late Oscar winner during Monday’s interview with the actress.
“I knew him a little bit when he was getting sober, and I don’t know that I’ve ever fallen in love with somebody so quickly,” the “Punk’d” alum, 50, recalled.
He went on to call Ledger, who died in 2008 of an overdose at age 28, “one of the most special boys” he has ever met.
Shepard noted, “I [could] feel the weight of the world on him in a very special way that kind of broke my heart. I was very, very sad, and I thought he was just so special.”
Williams, 44, replied in a whisper, repeatedly calling Ledger “so special.”
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She subsequently referenced their 19-year-old daughter, gushing, “Thank God there’s Matilda.”
When Shepard added that Ledger had a “heart that [was] just leaking out everywhere,” Williams agreed that the “Dark Knight” star was filled with an “incredible sensitivity.”
She recalled welcoming Matilda with Ledger in October 2005, one year after they met on the “Brokeback Mountain” set and began dating.
“I suppose maybe a good thing about being young is that you don’t have so much life experience that you can contextualize things,” Williams said of the experience.
The duo ended their romance in 2007.
When Ledger died the following year from an accidental drug overdose, “Succession” alum Jeremy Strong moved into Williams’ home to support her and Matilda.
“Jeremy was serious enough to hold the weight of a child’s broken heart and sensitive enough to understand how to approach her through play and games and silliness,” she revealed to Variety in 2022.
The Golden Globe winner did not discuss this time period in Monday’s interview, but did share rare insight into raising the now-teen.
“When I make mistakes in front of my daughter and own up to them and apologize, it teaches her to apologize and say, ‘Oops, Mommy, I’m sorry,’ and it’s not a big deal,” Williams told listeners.
“It’s a part of life, and we move on,” the Emmy winner continued. “No shame, no blame. You made a mistake? Beautiful. I made five already today.”
Williams is also the mother of three children with husband Thomas Kail — son Hart, born in 2020, and two more, one born in 2022 and another via surrogate earlier this year, whose names have not been divulged.
The couple got married in 2020, less than one year after the “Dying for Sex” star divorced her first husband, musician Phil Elverum.
If you or someone you care about is affected by any of the issues raised in this story, call SAMHSA’s National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).
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