Heath Ledger.

Talk about a perfect name for a movie star. And that is just what this fresh-faced 21-year-old Australian actor is fast becoming.

In one year, Ledger has gone from an unknown Aussie to a hot Hollywood property. His first U.S. film, Ten Things I Hate About You, a teen version of Shakespeare's Taming of the Shrew, won him critical acclaim and an MTV Movie Award nomination for best musical performance. Now he co-stars with Mel Gibson in the Revolutionary War drama, The Patriot, and will grace the cover of Vanity Fair (out July 10) . He's also set to star in two upcoming period films, A Knight's Tale and Four Feathers.

Of his role as Gibson's rebellious son, Ledger says the onscreen chemistry with his countryman came naturally.

"We never talked about it," Ledger says, slumped on a couch in his Four Seasons hotel room in Los Angeles. "It was just understood. I had a feeling when we met that working together would be fun. There was an instant mutual understanding."

Did Gibson give him advice for handling Hollywood's star-making machinery?

"He did, and I also learned a lot from him about acting, but it's all subtextual," Ledger says. "I couldn't spell it out for you. Plus, it's mine. You know, it's in my little jewelry box. My goodies."Success " happened very fast," he says. "But I never imagined I would be a professional actor. I started acting because it was fun, and it still is, so it's nothing I really stress about."

As if reaffirming that point, he reaches for a cigarette and asks, "Do you mind if I smoke?" He tosses the cigarette high in the air and catches it in his mouth with unnerving aplomb. With equal self-assurance, the Perth-born lad hopped onto the stage at age 10 with a local theater company, where his first role was the title part in Peter Pan. At 16, he headed to Sydney and worked in TV, with theater companies and in three independent films, one of which, Two Hands, earned him a nomination for best actor from the Australian Film Institute. In '97, Ledger had a role in the Fox show Roar, with Keri Russell (Felicity). The show didn't last, but it snagged him a Hollywood agent, who advised him to hold out for meatier film roles. His wait, albeit short, has paid off handsomely.

Ledger is currently shooting A Knight's Tale in Prague, Czech Republic, a romantic adventure tale about young medieval misfits inspired by Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales. It's directed by Brian Helgeland L.A Confidential's co-screenwriter) and due in theaters later this year. The actor plays a peasant who, with the help of friends, fortune and the favors of a fair lady, becomes a knight. For the role, he had to brush up on his horseback riding and learn to joust - no easy feat, he says. Ledger will be doing more stunts in Four Feathers, directed by Shekhar Kapur (Elizabeth). The film starts shooting this fall in Morocco and is due out in 2001.

Set in 1898, the story follows a young British soldier who leaves his regiment before the invasion of Sudan. He is sent four white feathers - symbols of cowardice - by his friends but redeems his honor by rescuing his captured comrades. "It's a beautiful story, a poem, really," Ledger says. "But I can't explain it properly. I've been so involved with Knight's Tale that I haven't really gotten into it. I'll be shooting in Prague for two months on this film, and then I have two weeks off before flying to Morocco to start Feathers." To be young, single and traveling the world making movies. Ledger happily admits he loves his gypsy life. "I can't be on the road enough. It's awesome."

Isn't traveling hard on one's love life?

"It's hard," Hedge says, with a shrug. " I tried that for a while, it didn't work."

What does work is going home to Australia every six months. His divorced parents are remarried with children, but he has an older sister from their union.

Ledger was a "big surfer brat" growing up in Australia but skips the West Coast surf scene. "I was totally spoiled," he says. "You can get your own wave there and don't have to sit with 100 people waiting to share a wave. Here the water is too cold, and there are too many sharks in the water." Sharks?

"Yeah, you know, in the water on their cellphones, making deals. You know, sharks."

You mean, agents?

"Yeah, agents," Ledger says, with a wink and a big broad grin.

-By Elizabeth Snead

June 29, 2000

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