“A Knight’s Tale”'s Paul Bettany Says It’s Still ‘Difficult’ to Come to Terms with Heath Ledger’s Death: ‘He Radiated Light’
“A Knight’s Tale”'s Paul Bettany Says It’s Still ‘Difficult’ to Come to Terms with Heath Ledger’s Death: ‘He Radiated Light’
Meredith WilshereSat, February 21, 2026 at 8:00 PM UTC
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Paul Bettany
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Paul Bettany is reflecting on working with Heath Ledger on 2001's A Knight's Tale
Bettany said the late actor, who died in 2008, "radiated light" on set
In 2025, the actor, 54, admitted that he hasn't seen the movie in over 20 years, as it makes him sad to see Ledger
Paul Bettany remembers working with Heath Ledger like it was yesterday.
In a recent interview with The Guardian, the WandaVision actor, 54, reflected on his time on set of the 2001 adventure film alongside Ledger, who died in 2008 at the age of 28 from an accidental overdose.
“So much has been said about Heath and darkness, but the moment you saw him, he just radiated light, happiness and joy," Bettany shared. "He was a ball of creativity and charisma, so very alive that even today it’s difficult to imagine him dead. I often find myself wondering what beautiful things he would have made."
'A Knight's Tale' cast
Moviestore/Shutterstock
“A Knight’s Tale is a film about a boy from nowhere who changes his stars, and I love that. It’s full of positive messaging. It was a magical time," he added.
In addition to Bettany and Ledger, the Brian Helgeland-directed film starred Shannyn Sossamon, Rufus Sewell and Alan Tudyk.
Elsewhere in the interview, Bettany gave an example of Ledger's confident, joyful spirit, explaining that the late actor “got a tattoo mid-shoot.”
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“It was a tiny circle with a circle around it and then a bigger circle around that, like a target," the British actor recalled. "He said, ‘That’s me in the middle. That circle is the Earth, and the other circle is the universe.’ I said, ‘You’ve put yourself right in the middle? I’ve never been that confident!’ "
"But he was that confident in the most joyful, winning way," Bettany added.
Heath Ledger and Paul Bettany in 'A Knight's Tale'
Moviestore/Shutterstock
During L.A. Comic Con in 2025, Bettany shared that he hasn’t seen the movie since it came out over 20 years ago — and will likely never see it again.
“It was a really long time ago. It was like another lifetime ago," he shared. "And people do come up sometimes, people come up to me on the street and quote things at me, and I literally can't remember. I can't remember any of it.”
“I saw [the film] when it first came out. I've never seen it again since. There are lots of reasons for that, and just one of them is that I miss Heath too much," he added.
on People
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
