Director Stephen Gaghan opens up about Heath Ledger dying in bed with his “Blink” script: 'It's still sad'

The Oscar-winning filmmaker was set to adapt Malcolm Gladwell's book with Ledger as the star before his 2008 death.

Sixteen years after Heath Ledger’s untimely death, director Stephen Gaghan is reflecting on the movie they almost made together.

During his recent appearance on Malcolm Gladwell’s Revisionist History podcast miniseries, Development Hell, the Oscar-winning filmmaker discussed his scrapped plans with the actor to adapt Gladwell’s book Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking, which explores the kind of thinking that happens in a blink of an eye. While Leonardo DiCaprio was initially in talks to star in it, Gaghan eventually forged a connection with Ledger. But in 2008 he received a startling phone call from Ledger's father and his close friend.

“They were there with the body, and our script was in bed with him, and your book was on the bedside table,” Gaghan recalled to Gladwell. “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.”

Gaghan, who was at the airport with his wife, Minnie Mortimer, at the time, continued: “I literally just collapse. It’s never happened to me before or since. My feet went out from under me. I just literally sat down because I was like, ‘What? What?’ What they were going through I should not have been a party to in any way, really, and yet as a human and somebody who just cares, I just was there and I was listening. 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."

Ledger was found dead in his Manhattan apartment at the age of 28 on Jan. 22, 2008. His death was ruled accidental and attributed to a lethal mix of prescription medications including OxyContin, Vicodin, Valium, Xanax, Unisom, and Restoril.

Gaghan said that following the tragic news, he hit pause on adapting Blink: “For me, I just had to put a pin in it."

Earlier in their conversation with Gladwell, the Traffic and Syriana writer explained how he landed on Ledger despite initially eyeing DiCaprio for the role. While the Titanic star was up for it, script revisions that aged down the character took him out of the running.

“This other thing had happened off camera, which is that I met Heath Ledger and I’d gotten to be very, very close with him instantly,” Gaghan added. “I just had a real connection with him that was kind of unusual and really special to me. I got really excited, and I started seeing him as the main character. Once I started seeing that I couldn’t unsee it."

He said he had a feeling they were going to make "a bunch of movies" together. Though Blink did not come to fruition at the time, revisiting the script has brought it back to the front of Gaghan’s mind.

“I got it out right before we got on. I was reading it. I was just like… ‘I could be crazy, but I think this script is really good,”’ he told Gladwell on the podcast. “We really had something really special, and we might’ve been ahead of our time or something.”

Gladwell concluded by suggesting that the adaptation could still happen. “Maybe it’s time to bring Blink back to life," he said. "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.”

Development Hell also features Gladwell having conversations with Cameron Crowe, Susannah Grant, Gary Goldman, Charles Randolph, and Neil LaBute about their lost projects with the likes of Tom Cruise, Sandra Bullock, Bradley Cooper, Taika Waititi, and more.

Listen to Gaghan remember Ledger on the episode below.

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