Heath's death a 'media circus'
2008-02-08 20:10
Berlin - British film star Daniel Day-Lewis blasted the media "circus" on Friday surrounding the death of Heath Ledger after his moving dedication of a top award to the Australian actor last month.
Day-Lewis, 50, who was at the Berlin Film Festival where his new picture There Will Be Blood is in competition, said the round-the-clock coverage was only compounding the grief of Ledger's family.
When asked about the tribute he made at the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) awards in Los Angeles on January 27, Day-Lewis said he was wary of speaking out publicly about Ledger again.
"I'm reluctant to talk about it now. As much I was glad to have a chance to say something in that moment, I now feel... there's plenty more I could say but I'm not just fuelling a fire that's already out of control," he said.
"His family, for instance, at this moment, are trying to suffer the unimaginable grief in the full scrutiny of a fucking circus and anything that I say is going probably to just contribute even more to that because it keeps the story running and running and running and running."
He said he hoped the focus would return to appreciation of Ledger's performances.
"There will come a time eventually when people just remember that he was a beautiful man who did some wonderful work and we have seen great things from him," he said.
"And right now I can't say I'm too enthusiastic about adding more fodder to what's already just a horrendously, seamy, overblown machine that's gathered around his death. It's horrible."
The New York chief medical examiner's office released a toxicology report on Wednesday showing that Ledger, 28, died of accidental intoxication caused by painkillers and anti-anxiety drugs.
In the SAG acceptance speech, Day-Lewis said the Australian's performances - in particular his role in the 2005 gay cowboy drama Brokeback Mountain - had deeply inspired him.
Day-Lewis has also been nominated for an Academy Award for his performance as a tyrannical oil prospector in There Will Be Blood.