Reaction at Sundance to Heath Ledger's Death

In the crowded Java Cow coffee shop on Main Street here, a young man waiting in line read a text message aloud yesterday that Heath Ledger had died.

People waiting in line and sitting at a nearby table looked over at him, one person doubted him. He looked up and said, "It's from a reliable source," then checked Google and confirmed the news.

This fromEntertainment Weekly's EW.com on the reaction at Sundance:

"Word spread with lightning speed via cell phones and BlackBerries, and in nearly every case was met with disbelief.

"One high-ranking studio exec, after receiving an e-mail stating that Ledger was dead, quickly wrote back: ''What—you mean his career?''

"Charlize Theron learned the news while walking a red carpet at Sundance.

"Josh Hartnett was blindsided at a Sundance Q&A by a question about Ledger's death; he struggled to answer even as the crowd jeered the man who had asked it."

A Sundance spokesperson expressed condolences to Ledger's family and said that the festival would not officially pay respects.

Michelle Williams, Ledger's former lover and the mother of their daughter, Matilda Rose, stars inIncendiary, which premiered Sunday night at Sundance.

According to IMDB.com,Incendiary is the story of an adulterous woman whose life falls apart when her husband and infant son are killed in a suicide bombing at a soccer match. Williams flew back to New York yesterday evening.

A quote from the same EW.com article cited above explains how Ledger was smoothly able to transition from teen heartthrob to A-list artist, with highly praised performances inBrokeback Mountain andI'm Not There:

''I'm on a f---ing journey,'' he said. ''I'm on a walkabout. A lot of people think ambition or success, and they think dollars.... My success is getting underneath that. At the f---ing end of the day, that's the only thing you're going to carry with you when you die.''

Christopher Nolan cast Ledger as The Joker inThe Dark Knight, a sequel to the 2005 movieBatman Begins. From EW.com:

''The first time I met him, I remember him explaining to me that he wanted to take his time as a young actor. He didn't want to be thrust center stage before he achieved what he wanted to achieve. To be perfectly honest, that's a line I've heard from a lot of young actors. But he's the only one that I then paid $10 to go see do something really extraordinary—which wasBrokeback Mountain. That was an incredible performance—such lack of vanity, such immersion. As an actor, Heath is fearless.''

After an autopsy today, the New York City Medical Examiner said cause of death is still unclear and toxicology results could take as long as 10 days.