Michelle Williams
Hollywood was left heartbroken when Heath Ledger died after a cardiac arrest in 2008 aged just 28. He left behind his daughter Matilda Rose who he had with ex love Michelle Williams. The pair had dated for three years after meeting on the set of Brokeback Mountain, and went their separate ways in 2007, just five months before his death. Despite their split, Michelle remained close to the father of her child up until his shock death, and has since opened up about her grief.
Speaking to ABC, the star said: "In a strange way, I miss that year, because all those possibilities that existed then are gone. It didn’t seem unlikely to me that he could walk through a door or could appear from behind a bush. It was a year of very magical thinking, and in some ways I’m sad to be moving further and further away from it.” Talking about giving her daughter a normal upbringing, she added: “It is of more importance to me than anything else in my life." In another interview with WSJ Magazine, Michelle recalled the time she moved out of the apartment that she had shared with Heath after his death, emotionally saying: "At that time, I was inconsolable, because I felt, 'How will he be able to find us?' This is where we lived, and he won't know where we are.' And now I can't believe I thought that. Maybe what's making me cry is I feel sad for the person who thought he won't be able to locate [us]." Michelle credited Joan Didion's memoir The Year Of Magical Thinking for helping her to cope with the grief she experienced.