Believe It or Not, Heath Ledger and Michelle Williams’s Daughter Is a Full Grown Adult

Believe it or not, Matilda Rose Ledger, the daughter of award winning actors Heath Ledger and Michelle Williams, is now a legal adult. When her father Heath passed away in 2008, she was only two-years-old.

You may not know the co-stars of Brokeback Mountain even had a kid. Though their relationship was tabloid fodder for the duration of their union, both performers did their best to keep their daughter out of the spotlight. That heightened after Heath’s death.

Mother Michelle has kept daughter Matilda out of the spotlight. In a July 2017 cover story with Vanity Fair, the actress said, “When you’re a single parent, and that element of provider and protection is missing, it’s scary.”

Michelle also spoke about the importance of keeping Matilda’s day-to-day life consistent, something most every parent can understand. When Michlle and Matilda moved back to Brooklyn for the school years after spending the six years following Heath’s death in upstate New York, the actress said, “She hasn’t had her routine disrupted and hasn’t missed class.”

In a May 10, 2022 cover story in Variety, Michelle spoke about how important actor Jeremy Strong was in Matilda’s life. The two actors became friends in 2004 and Jeremy moved in, along with Michelle’s sister and another friend, after Heath’s passing.

Michelle told the magazine, “Jeremy was serious enough to hold the weight of a child’s broken heart and sensitive enough to understand how to approach her through play and games and silliness. [Matilda] didn’t grow up with her father, but she grew up with her Jeremy and we were changed by his ability to play as though his life depended upon it, because hers did.”

While support is good, it doesn't make up for missing a father. In the Winter 2016 cover story for Porter, Michelle said, "In all honesty, for pretty much everything else, I feel like I’m a believer in not fighting circumstances, accepting where you are and where you’ve been. In pretty much all senses but one, I would be able to go totally down that line of thinking were it not for Matilda not having her dad. You know, that’s just something that doesn’t… I mean, it just won’t ever be right."

According to New Idea, Matilda spent her 18th birthday in a familiar place, in rural upstate New York with mom and friends. Michelle moved them there soon after Heath’s passing.

The Australian weekly magazine also points out that now that Matilda is 18, she’s the legal owner of the Best Supporting Actor Academy Award Heath won posthumously his performance in The Dark Knight. The statuette has been on display at the Western Australian Museum in Perth.

Matilda's mom married theater and television director and television executive producer Thomas Kail in 2020. They met in 2018 while working on Fosse/Verdon, her acting and him directing and producing. They've also produced two children, Hart in 2020 and a sibling in 2022.