When a young, hunky 20 year old heart-throb Heath Ledger first came to the attention of the public in 1999, it was all too easy to tag him as a "pretty boy" and an actor of not much depth. He has spent the past five years trying desperately to sway this image away, but this has indeed been a double-edged sword. But that comes much later in his story. Heath Ledger was born on the fourth of April 1979, in Perth, Western Australia. As the story goes, in junior high it was compulsory to do one of two electives, either cooking or drama, and as Heath could honestly not see himself in a cooking class, he tried his hand at drama. Heath was talented, there was no denying that. However, the rest of the class did not acknowledge his talent, possibly out of jealousy. When he was 17, he and a friend, decided to pack up, leave school, take a car and rough it to Sydney. Heath believed Sydney to be the place where dreams are made, or at least, where actors can possibly get their big break. However, upon arriving in Sydney with a purported 69 cents to his name, Heath tried everything to get a break. His first real acting job came in a low budget movie called Blackrock, a largely unimpressive cliche; a teen angst film about one boy's struggle when he learns his best mate raped a girl. He did not have a large part in this movie. In fact, it was a very small one. The only thing of notice in his role is you get to see him get his lights punched out. After that small role, Heath auditioned for a role in a TV show called Sweat about a group of young Olympic hopefuls. He got offered one of two roles, one as a swimmer, another as a gay cyclist. Heath accepted the latter because he felt to really stand out as an actor one had to accept unique roles that stood out from the bunch. It got him small notice, but unfortunately the show was quickly axed, which led him to look for other roles. He was in Home and Away for a very short period, in which he played a surfer who falls in love with one of the girls of Summer Bay. Then came his very brief role in Paws. Paws was a film which existed solely to cash in on guitar prodigy Nathan Cavaleri's brief moment of fame, where he was the hottest thing in Australia. Heath played a student in the film, involved in a stage production of a Shakespeare play, in which he played "Oberon". A very brief role, this did nothing other than give him a small paycheck, but nothing to advance his career. Then came Two Hands. He went to America trying to audition for film roles, showcasing his brief role in Roar. He could not find any American roles but then Australian director Gregor Jordan auditioned him for the lead in Two Hands, which he got. An in your face Aussie crime thriller, Two Hands was outstanding and helped him secure a role in 10 Things I Hate About You. After that, it seemed Heath was being typecast as a teen hunk, which he did not like, so he accepted a role in a very serious war drama The Patriot.

What followed was a stark inconsistency of roles, Heath accepting virtually every single character role, anything to avoid being typecast. Some met with praise, like his short role in Monster's Ball, but his version of Ned Kelly was an absolute flop, which led distributors hesitant to even release it outside Australia. The Order was absolutely terrible, and A Knight's Tale was just light entertainment. Heath has had such a wide variety of roles that he seems unsure what to do with himself next. Despite being a very talented comedic actor, he seems to only want serious roles, which has hindered his career. He is by no means one of the greatest actors out of Australia, but in his brief career to date has suggested he could become one, if only he accepts the right role.
Ned Kelly (2003): $50,000
The Four Feathers (2002): $2,000,000
A Knight's Tale (2001): $3,000,000
10 Things I Hate About You (1999): 100,000

Heath Ledger and his sister are named after the two main romantic characters of the Emily Brontë novel, "Wuthering Heights". Dated costar Lisa Zane while they were filming Roar. Concentrated on Drama and sports in school and when asked to choose between sports or drama, he picked drama. Attended a private all boys school called Guildford Grammar. Auditioned for the part of Max on the TV show Roswell. However, the show was originally developed for Fox and since he had already starred in Roar which was unsuccessful for Fox, they did not want to hire him. Has three sisters: Kate Ledger, and half sisters Olivia Ledger and Ashleigh Bell. Mother is Sally and father is Kim. Named one of People Magazine's 50 Most Beautiful People in 2001. Dated Heather Graham. [October 2000 - June 2001] Was a part of the Kalamunda Field Hockey team back in 1990 in his native country of Australia. His father, Kim Ledger, was the president of the team from 1990-1992. Was a Men's Fashion Judge at the Melbourne Cup Carnival in November 2001. Shares a birthday with Hugo Weaving. Was originally set to star in Oliver Stone's Alexander before Colin Farrell took over the role. Was considered for the role of Kar in Bulletproof Monk but eventually turned it down. The role later went to Seann William Scott. Dated Naomi Watts (August 2002 - May 2004) He and Naomi Watts broke up for the 2nd time, April 2004. Born on the same day as American Pie star Natasha Lyonne. Worked with Orlando Bloom in Ned Kelly. Ledger worked with Scottish actor James Cosmo in The Four Feathers. Both Bloom and Cosmo worked together in the movie Troy Was named "the new Matt Damon" in Josie and the Pussycats. They now act side by side in The Brothers Grimm Most of his wardrobe is designed by his friend Shem. Is of Irish and Scottish ancestry Starred in 3 films which screened at the 2005 Venice Film Festival. They included Brokeback Mountain, The Brothers Grimm and the out-of-competition _Casanova (2005/I)_ . Fiance Michelle Williams gave birth to daughter Matilda Rose Ledger on 28th October 2005, weighed in 6 lbs, 5 oz. Met Michelle Williams on the set of _Brokeback Mountain' . Was selected in the State U17 squad in field hockey and was touted as one of the up and coming young stars, but chose to pack it in and try to make a career out of acting. Jake Gyllenhaal is the godfather of his daughter Matilda. Was mentored by, lived with and is very good friends with Martin Henderson. Invited to join AMPAS in 2006. Is the first non American actor to portray the Joker. Set to star in Baz Luhrmann's Pre-WWII drama, but backed-out to play The Joker in The Dark Knight.