Naomi Watts: thinking about Heath Ledger’s death is still incredibly difficult

Naomi Watts has said she still finds it “incredibly difficult” to think about the death of ex-boyfriend Heath Ledger.

The couple dated for two years between 2002 and 2004 and after they split, the pair remained close friends until Heath’s death a year ago.

She told Parade magazine recently that she didn’t really know his work until they met on the set of Ned Kelly: “I hadn’t really been that familiar with his work and then, when I got to the set and did that first scene with him, I was like, ‘Wow! This guy is alive.’

“It was just something deep in his eyes. You could look into them, and they would tell a thousand stories in one glance.

“There was a wonderful mixture of power and fragility at work in everything he did, which just pulls you in. His strength didn’t scare you. It intrigued you.

“His fragility touched you… It’s still incredibly difficult [to talk about].”

In related news, the legal case between Heath Ledger’s estate and his insurance company ReliaStar Life Insurance has been settled.

The insurers initially refused to pay out on Heath’s $10million life insurance policy after his death last January because even though the coroner ruled he had died from an accidental prescription drug overdose, they wanted to carry out their own investigation on whether it was a suicide.

Inside sources now say the case has been settled and a court guardian will be appointed to act on behalf of the policy’s beneficiary, Heath’s three year old daughter Matilda, at a closed hearing next month to finalise the case.