Director Stephen Gaghan recently opened up about the phone call he received from the father of Heath Ledger at the scene of the actor's death. Heath died of an accidental overdose in January 2008. On the latest episode of author Malcolm Gladwell's podcast, Revisionist History, the 58-year-old recalled the details of the call and how it affected him. At the time, he and Heath were working on a film adaptation of Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking, one of Malcom's books. The script was found in the bed with the actor.
“I got a phone call, they were on speakerphone and it was Heath Ledger’s father, who I’d never met … and a guy who was really close to him," Stephen said. "They were there with the body, and our script was in bed with him, and your book was on the bedside table. I think my number was on the script — like written. These guys are in, as you can imagine, they are in shock. And they dialed that number, and I don’t know why.”
At the time of receiving the news, the director was at the airport with his wife. “I literally just collapsed. It’s never happened to me before or since,” he explained. “My feet went out from under me. I just literally sat down because I was like, ‘What? What?’" He added, "My wife was looking at me. I remember her face and I was just speechless. I just listened and listened and listened. It was just really, really sad. And it’s still sad.”
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Heath was 28 years old at the time of his death. After Heath died, Stephen couldn't proceed with filming the adaptation of Malcom's book. “For me, I just had to put a pin in it,” he said. “I got it out right before we got on. I was reading it … I was like, 'I could be crazy, but I think this script is really good.'" Malcom responded, “Maybe it’s time to bring Blink back to life. If there’s someone listening in some big office somewhere in Hollywood, I will get on a plane tomorrow, if that’s what it takes.”
