Michelle Williams and Naomi Watts reflect on Heath Ledger

Michelle Williams and Naomi Watts have both broken their silence about the death of their former lover Heath Ledger. It is the first time either has addressed the tragedy beyond a brief statement.

Williams the mother of Ledger’s daughter Matilda talks candidly in the new April issue of Interview magazine, about the “vulnerable” actor, who died after an accidental overdose of prescription drugs earlier this year. Michelle said:

 ”I think the interesting thing about Heath, which maybe people have only really fully discovered in his death, is how vulnerable he was. You can pick it up on it in his performances, but it’s easy to overlook because he was so physical and beautiful and strong and masculine,” she adds. “But there was always that underlying sensitivity. That’s who he was. He had a talent for everything that he put his mind to. He didn’t know limits.”

Michelle also discuseed Ledger’s history of sleeping issues.

“For as long as I’d known him, he had bouts with insomnia,” she says. “He had too much energy. His mind was turning, turning turning — always turning.”

Ledger’s ex-girlfriend, fellow Australian Naomi Watts, had this to say to the magazine about the deceased star:

“He was a huge, obsessive, chess freak — and very, very good at it.”

And about his work and the fame that came with it:

“I think he wanted to be someone who was doing the observing — not the one being observed. He hated not being able to go about his life in an ordinary way. But I think that, deep down, he enjoyed that he was being recognized for his talent. I think he was starting to own that and that’s the deepest tragedy, in terms of his work. He was just beginning to own it and embrace it.”