Heath Gone, Two Remaining Points On A 'Brokeback' Love Triangle Try To Pick Up The Pieces: Update
Instruct your assistant to hold all your calls, poor yourself a tumbler of whiskey, and fire up the Bose Wave to ease you into haunting opening strums of Gustavo Santaolalla's "The Wings"—this next one's going to be a little rough. Sources from the New Mexico set of Jake Gyllenhaal's new movie Brothers tell People that the actor is "devastated" since learning of his Brokeback Mountain sharpshooting partner's death:
UPDATE: Michelle Williams's publicist refutes Us's Ledger rehab story, after the jump.
The actor, who is godfather to Ledger's two-year-old daughter Matilda, has been devastated by last week's news. Says one Gyllenhaal friend, "Jake is taking this harder than most people." [...]
This has had a strong personal effect on [Jake]," says a set source. The insider adds that Gyllenhaal left the set immediately after learning of Ledger's Jan. 22 death - but he flew back on a commercial flight to shoot an additional scene on Thursday.
"He was there, but he wasn't with us. It was obviously a major trauma," says the movie source. "These guys were very close. [Jake] was sitting in the director's chair staring off into space."
Not depressed enough yet? Well perhaps Us Weekly's new cover, "Heath Ledger's Secret Struggles," will sweep the remaining crumbs of hope from your overtaxed hearts. According to their reports, Michelle Williams drove Ledger to Promises shortly after the 2006 Oscars, insisting he seek help with various drug addictions. He refused to leave the car, pledging instead that he'd sort though his dependency issues on his own. Their lead besotted with grief, shooting on Williams's current project Blue Valentine has been "postponed until further notice," says a ThinkFilm rep.
UPDATE: Williams's rep responds to the Us story:
"Much of the tabloid reporting is inaccurate," Mara Buxbaum tells CelebTV.com. "This fabricated story of Michelle Williams attempting to bring Heath Ledger to rehab is just one lie among many. The speculation is heinous. Let this family grieve privately."
