Entertainment

Lost Interview Depicts Ledger In Disturbing Light

Troubled Actor Looked And Sounded Edgy, Uncomfortable

NEW YORK (CBS) ― Here's a more candid look at Heath Ledger the person, and what he was really like.

CBS station WCBS-TV's Scott Rapoport spoke one on one with the actor back in December 2005 about his movie "Casanova."

The lost interview is even more eye-opening in light of Ledger's tragic death in New York City on Tuesday.

Jumpy, fidgety and biting his nails …

"Oh, that's cool. I'm glad you enjoyed it," Ledger said when told "Casanova" was a fine flick.

That was the Ledger Rapoport found when he sat down with him two years ago to talk about his new movie "Casanova."

Scott Rapoport: "So they come to you and say we'd like you to play the world's greatest lover. Your response?"

Heath Ledger: "Ummm, that. Ummm."

At times, Ledger was almost non verbal. At other times ... rambling.

Heath Ledger: "You know ... I'd just come off working three or four really heavy films and heavy characters ... loaded with emotions ... and ... um ... uh ... you know ... emotions ... and it was very tough ... exhausting ... and it became a tool for me to unwind ... um ... from the experiences that had wound me up so tightly."

Ledger appeared uncomfortable that day, confined and twitchy.

He told Rapoport he'd been drinking red wine. There was a bottle of it in the interview room. It was 3 p.m.

At the time, Ledger had been riding high for his critically acclaimed performance in "Brokeback Mountain," so shooting "Casanova" -- with Sienna Miller and Oliver Platt -- in Venice was almost like a working holiday.

Scott Rapoport: "They couldn't find some place good to go?"

Heath Ledger: "I know. Venice. This is tough …"

Scott Rapoport: "Is it something of an ego boost to play something like this? Or is it sort of professional? Because you have to realize for a lot of people you're living every guy's dream.

Ledger: "Well ... that's uh ... I mean look, we're acting ... I mean, when you're playing a mass murderer are you really murdering people? Know what I mean? You're acting.

Ledger at the time was an actor at the top of his game, with a world of limitless possibilities before him -- two years before his shocking death.

Scott Rapoport: "Very nice to meet you."

Heath Ledger: "Thank you. Nice to meet you, too."

It was one five-minute interview, a five-minute peek into a person's life.

There is no escaping how jumpy and jittery Ledger was during the interview. Perhaps a reason for that -- a chronic lack of sleep -- could account for his restlessness.

Ledger told the New York Times back in November he suffered from insomnia.

He said he'd recently tried a sleeping pill, which didn't work, so he took some more.

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