It’s been 10 years since Heath Ledger’s tragic death, but Michelle Williams is still mourning the loss of her ex. Luckily, her best friend, Busy Philipps, flew to be by her side. “It’s ok,” Busy captioned her Instagram snap.
Immediately, people began commenting on the duo’s relationship. “Friend goals. Your unconditional support and love amazes me,” one person wrote. Another added, “This is so sweet. What true friends are for.” A third chimed in, “Michelle is such a strong woman. And I’m thankful she has such a great friend. The time has gone by so fast.”
Earlier that day, Busy admitted she broke down in tears as she remembered her “friend” while listening to “Time to Pretend” by MGMT.
“I was just driving and I was thinking about my friend Heath who died 10 years ago and this song came on,” she said in an Instagram Story. “It came out after he passed away and I remember when it came out, because [I thought] it made me think of him. I just thought he would have liked this song. And for some reason, every time I hear this song… it’s weird.”
Heath died at the age of 28 from an accidental drug overdose in his New York apartment in 2008. He and Michelle, 37, dated after meeting on the set of Brokeback Mountain and had a child together, daughter Matilda, now 12.
Heath Ledger and Michelle Williams met on the set of Brokeback Mountain in 2004.
In 2009, the Marilyn actress told Vogue how much her daughter reminds her of the late Australian actor.
“Every time I really miss him and wonder where he’s gone, I just look at her,” she said at the time.
She added that for the first year after his death, she was inconsolable. “I have been severely accident-prone over the past 12 months. I fell downstairs, broke a toe, put my fingers in a blender — seriously distracted. [I would often] cry, nap, sit and stare, try to figure out what to make [Matilda] for dinner, talk to friends on the phone. I was holding it together by a string and a paper clip in the Fall and Winter. I didn’t know if I could keep it all together.”
Despite it all, she’s looking forward to the future. “I feel hopeful and grateful. For a while, I thought we had lost everything,” she told the mag.
“It makes you want to love better and live better and treat people better. There is a great Gloria Steinem quote — and I’m paraphrasing — ‘Become the man you want to marry.’ I’ve taken that on. What qualities do I find attractive, and can I find them in myself? What am I missing? Can I be that for myself?”
This article first appeared on Life & Style.
