Gary Oldman Explains Why He Accepted Heath Ledger’s SAG Award

The honors continued at Sunday’s Screen Actors Guild Awards for the late Heath Ledger. The actor’s iconic Joker role was awarded the statue for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role, which his “Dark Knight” co-star Gary Oldman accepted on his behalf.

Before the ceremony, Gary told Access Hollywood’s Nancy O’Dell that Heath’s family had an arrangement with Gary in case the actor was to be awarded by his peers.

“The family requested it,” Gary said of his plan to accept the award on Heath’s behalf.

“Are you close with the [Ledger] family?” Nancy asked.

“We went for a wonderful meal with the family in New York, we got on very well,” Gary explained. “They called and said, ‘Would I pick it up for [Heath] if he won?’”

It was a task the actor graciously accepted.

Gary, who played Detective James Gordon in “The Dark Knight,” said he planned to keep his speech, “short and sweet… get on and get off.”

He feels that Heath’s performance came naturally to the gifted actor.

“As devilishly hard as it looked, I think it was like breathing for Heath,” Gary said.

Like so many in Hollywood and around the world, Heath’s “Dark Knight” co-star will miss him tremendously.

“I was getting to know him and there was a friendship that was developing,” Gary said of Heath. “Heaven knows what he was going to go on to do.”