Stephen Gaghan has just revealed his reaction when he received a phone call from Heath Ledger's father, who informed him of the actor's death.
In the latest episode of Malcolm Gladwell's podcast titled, revisionist historyThe 58-year-old director explained how he reacted to the news of Ledger's death.
At the time Gaghan and Ledger were working together on a film adaptation of Gladwell's book, Blink: the power of thinking without thinking. The film's script was found in bed with Ledger.
“I got a phone call, they were on speakerphone and it was Heath Ledger's father, who I had never met… and a guy who was very close to him. They were there with the body, our script was in bed with him and his book was on the nightstand,” Gaghan told the host.
Reflecting on why Ledger's father called him, Gaghan stated, “I think my number was in the script, the way it was written. These guys are, as you can imagine, in shock. And they dialed that number and I don't know why.”
“I literally just collapsed. It’s never happened to me before or since,” Gaghan said. “My feet gave out. I literally sat down because I was like, 'What? That?' The emotion, what they were going through,” he revealed.
“It was very, very sad. And it's still sad,” Gaghan noted about the death of Heath Ledger, who was 28 at the time he lost his life to an accidental drug overdose.
