NBC link here

Completely unbelievable. He lived in our neighborhood for a time, and by all accounts was a good guy. My heart goes out to his ex Michelle Williams and their daughter Matilda. I am stunned and shocked. First Brad Renfro and now this. Terrible.

Shocking news, absolutely shocking.

Renfro I could believe, as much as I hated it. This one floors me.

I am in shock. Must have been an accident.

Terrible news. I think what used to be I'M NOT THERE's weakest section just became its most poignant.

THE DARK KNIGHT's long since in the can, but it seems they hadn't gotten too far into Terry Gilliam's THE IMAGINARIUM OF DOCTOR PARNASSUS. Uh oh.

I thought his performance as Jacob Grimm in Gilliam's THE BROTHERS GRIMM was fantastic, and I liked his work in I'LL BE THERE better on the second pass. He was one of the few actors of his generation who, in a reasonably small amount of work, had demonstrated enormous range and ability.

I'm shocked/in disbelief, too---I was never a big fan of his to begin with, but I just rented out BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN just over a month ago and really enjoyed it, sad though it was in some parts. Plus he was kind of cute, on top of that, and I like Australian actors anyway. When I came onto and saw the thread title,I was honestly hoping it was a bad joke or something, but sadly,it's the truth. I just got off his IMDB page, which is blown up with posts full of equal parts shock and surprise. He just seemed like one actor who had so much going for him /so much accomplished in terms of where he was at in his career, that's why it's such a trip to hear of this happening, coming on the heels of the young actor from THE CLIENT who just passed away recently himself, and was even younger than Ledger. What a shame. :(

Ledger seemed awfully talented and a decent person, as far as I know never having heard anything to suggest otherwise. Awkwardly, as Jeffrey notes in reference to Terry Gilliam's latest, Ledger's role involved a character who at one point commits suicide, as noted here. I'm mentioning this solely as, irrespective of the full details of what happened today, it would make a recasting of the role even more awkward for whoever took over the part. Sad news.

On that note, Gilliam's latest has reportedly been shut down.