Shocking News
I’ve been debating with myself whether or not to write this entry. There’s a moral ambiguity about the subject matter. But a blog’s a blog and I say it how I see it.
As well as developing a movie version of The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, Clare’s also attached to direct an indy feature called Loving Iris. It’s a charming, emotionally packed and unique script. We’re not talking Hollywood blockbuster here… although that would be nice… but I’ve no doubt it will be a critical success. It might even pick up an award or two.
The two lead roles are both sixteen year-old girls, poles apart yet equally challenging. For this reason the script’s generating interest from quite a few talented young actors. One of the interested parties is Mary-Kate Olsen, who along with twin sister Ashley, made a fortune after starring on the sitcom Full House as children. She’s since shed her child star image with an acclaimed performance in US sitcom Weeds.
Of course Clare was chuffed when she heard and the producer of Loving Iris set up a meeting with Mary-Kate at her agent’s office in Beverly Hills. It was set for Tuesday and when the big day arrived Clare set off full of enthusiasm… excited about the prospect of attaching Mary-Kate to the project. When Clare arrived there was a seething mass of paparazzi jostling for position outside the building. She thought nothing of it. After all, human vultures armed with cameras are not a rare sight in Los Angeles, especially Beverly Hills. But as she parked, bracing herself to fight through the media scrum (or is that scum?), her mobile phone rang. It was Mary-Kate’s agent calling to postpone the meeting. She’d just had a call from the East Coast about a close friend being involved in a serious accident.
Clare shrugged off her disappointment and returned home, a number of scenarios playing through her mind. She rang to tell me the news. At this point I went online to see if I could find out more. Seconds later I was reading the shocking news of Heath Ledger’s death. What a tragedy. Clare was devastated when she found out. She keeps thinking of his poor two-year old daughter. Clare was seven when her own father died and knows first hand what it’s like to grow up without a daddy.
It’s still early days and no doubt the full details will come out over the next week or so. But reports say that the masseuse who found his body called Mary-Kate twice before calling 911. She knew they were close friends and her number was in his mobile phone. What a terrible chain of events and no wonder she took the first flight available back to New York.
It’s not my job to write a eulogy. I didn’t know the guy. It’s just that when somebody dies in their prime it provides a grim reminder of our own mortality. What a waste.
RIP
