Meet Heath Ledger’s lookalike daughter with Michelle Williams: inside her life 17 years after father’s tragic death

Unbelievably, it has been 17 years since the world lost Heath Ledger.

The Australian actor, who left a mark with his roles in The Dark Knight, Brokeback Mountain, and 10 Things I Hate About You, passed away aged 28 on January 22, 2008, in New York City, after an accidental overdose.

His legacy and memory live on not only in his mark on Hollywood but of course through his family, which includes his daughter Matilda.

Heath shared Matilda, who is already 19 years old, with his ex-fiancée and former co-star Michelle Williams, with whom he was in a relationship for about three years.

Read all about Heath’s relationship with Michelle, and Matilda, below.

Michelle and Heath were 23 and 25 when they met

Michelle, now 44, met Heath in 2004 on the set of Brokeback Mountain, in which he starred as closeted gay ranch hand Ennis Del Mar and she as his wife Alma.

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It was a whirlwind romance, and by October 2005, they were walking red carpets hand-in-hand, engaged, and expecting their first child together. They eventually moved to Brooklyn, Boerum Hill specifically, and at the time, Heath told New York Magazine: “It’s the closest we’ve ever come to feeling like we can lead a normal life,” adding: “We’ve localized ourselves. I don’t think there’s another place on earth I’d rather be right now. We’re very happy.”

Matilda was born in 2005

Matilda was born on October 28, 2005 in New York City. “Matilda is adorable, and beautifully observant and wise,” Heath gushed to InTouch, per People, two months after becoming a dad, adding: “Michelle and I love her so much. Becoming a father exceeds all my expectations. It’s the most remarkable experience I’ve ever had — it’s marvelous.”

Her parents made fellow celebs Jake Gyllenhaal and Busy Phillipps her godparents, and another special figure in Matilda’s life is Succession actor Jeremy Strong, a close friend of Michelle’s who lived on and off with them after Heath’s death.

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“[Matilda] didn’t grow up with her father, but she grew up with her Jeremy — and we were changed by his ability to play as though his life depended upon it, because hers did,” Michelle told Variety in 2022.

Michelle and Heath split in 2007

The former couple split in September 2007 — Heath’s drug habits were allegedly part of the reason — though they reportedly remained on amicable terms until Heath’s passing.

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Matilda’s godmother and Michelle’s best friend Busy shed some light on the split in her 2018 memoir This Will Only Hurt a Little, in which she wrote: “I felt sad for both of them, but weirdly, like something would be figured out, and it wasn’t the end of the story for them. They were so young, and that baby was the light of both of their lives. They were just working all the time, and it was complicated. [Expletive] is always complicated. Especially when you’re 28. And movie stars. With a baby.”

Matilda inherited all of her dad’s estate

Heath is also survived by his parents, Kim and Sally Leger, and his sisters, Kate, Olivia and Ashleigh. When he passed away, they maintained that not only were Michelle and Matilda an “integral” part of their family, but that everything Heath had left them would instead be going to Matilda.

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“There was never any question about the fact that Heath’s estate would go to Matilda,” the family told People in 2008, maintaining it was the plan “from the moment my boy passed away,” and: “Never a question. We are very close to Michelle and Matilda.”

She is an older sister

In 2020, Michelle married her Fosse/Verdon director Thomas Kail, and the two live with their family in Brooklyn Heights.

That year, they welcomed their first child together, son Hart, and in 2022, they welcomed their second child together, though they have not disclosed either their name or sex.