Hughes To Direct 'Farragut North'
By Gordon Cox
Variety

Doug Hughes will helm "Farragut North," Beau Willimon's Broadway-bound play about a young man who is a staff member for a rising presidential candidate.

Production aims to begin perfs early this summer at a theater to be determined.

"North" will be the second politically themed Rialto outing this year for producers Jeffrey Richards and Jerry Frankel, whose production of David Mamet's presidential comedy "November" opened last month. Also on the "Farragut" production team are Steve Traxler, Michael Filerman and Stuart Thompson.

In recent months the rumor mill had pegged Mike Nichols, who will direct a Broadway revival of "The Country Girl" this spring, as the director of "Farragut." Jake Gyllenhaal was rumored to be interested in the lead role, but is now said to be no longer a possibility.

Hughes is one of Broadway's most regularly employed helmers, with credits including "Doubt," "Frozen," "Inherit the Wind" and "Mauritius."

- Posted by Stephanie  
- Credit: Variety

Jake Leaning On Reese Witherspoon, Sister For Loss Of Ledger
By Brenda Jones
National Ledger

Jake Gyllenhaal is struggling mightily with the shock and is desperately leaning on his girlfriend, Reese Witherspoon, to help him cope with the grief he feels over his late pal Heath Ledger, sources tell OK! Magazine.  A pal of Jake tells OK! that Reese has been crucial in getting the Brokeback Mountain star through this terrible time. 

"Jake calls Reese every night," the friend confides.  "He told her he’s having a hard time facing something as big as this." Jake’s first call when he heard about the loss of Heath was to his older sister, Maggie, the report claims.

A Gyllenhaal family insider says Maggie, 30, is trying her best to be there for her 27-year-old brother.  After she spoke to him on the phone, the insider says, “Maggie must have been concerned for Jake.  I heard he sounded groggy, like he was in a daze.  He was mumbling about Heath being gone, his voice was shaky and he was choking back tears during the conversation.  I’m sure Maggie could hear the hurt in Jake’s voice.”

Jake, who is godfather to Heath’s 2-year-old daughter, Matilda, with Michelle Williams, feels guilty for not being there for his Aussie buddy.  “I bet Maggie’s worried about her brother beating himself up and wishing he had known how bad things were,” says the friend.  “There is only so much a person can do.”

- Posted by Stephanie  
- Credit: National Ledger

Jake Is Taking Heath's Death 'Harder Than Most'
By Bryan Alexander
People

Heath Ledger's sudden death has been especially tough on his good friend – and Brokeback Mountain costar – Jake Gyllenhaal.

The actor, who is godfather to Ledger's two-year-old daughter Matilda, has been devastated by last week's news. Says one Gyllenhaal friend, "Jake is taking this harder than most people."

Nowhere is that more apparent than on the New Mexico set of Gyllenhaal's latest movie, Brothers.

"This has had a strong personal affect on [Jake]," says a set source. The insider adds that Gyllenhaal left the set immediately after learning of Ledger's Jan. 22 death – but he flew back on a commercial flight to shoot an additional scene on Thursday.

"He was there, but he wasn't with us. It was obviously a major trauma," says the movie source. "These guys were very close. [Jake] was sitting in the director's chair staring off into space."

Gyllenhaal has been off since shooting that scene, and was photographed Saturday looking subdued with girlfriend Reese Witherspoon in Los Angeles. Set sources say director Jim Sheriden is shooting around the grieving actor during his personal leave.

The 27-year-old's somber mood is a sharp contrast to the happier times on the set of Brothers. During one intense early prison scene, Gyllenhaal jokingly reached into his pocket and took out a picture of his Brokeback beau to stick on the prison wall. "Like those prisoners put [loved ones] on the wall, but Jake's was Heath Ledger," one set source recalls. "That was hilarious. It was a nice moment."

The source adds, "When you think back on it now, it's touching."

- Posted by Stephanie  
- Credit: People

Gyllenhaal To Help Raise Ledger's Daughter, Matilda
Entertainment News

Michelle Williams, the mother of Heath Ledger's only daughter Matilda, has returned to New York where family and friends are ready to help her.

Special friends include Jake Gyllenhaal, Ledger's co-star in Brokeback Mountain and Matilda's godfather, who will now have the responsibility of sharing the toddler's upbringing.

Williams, 27, who fell in love with Heath Ledger on the same movie set but split from him last year, had been filming in Sweden but is jetting back to New York with two-year-old Matilda.

Police are guarding her home in Brooklyn where she previously lived with Ledger.

Williams' mother and her Dawson's Creek co-star Busy Phillips are in New York to comfort Williams, who yesterday learned of Ledger's death.

Williams was in Trollhattan, Sweden, where the 27-year-old actress had been shooting scenes for the upcoming film Mammoth, said Martin Stromberg, a spokesman for film production company Memfis Film.

"She received the news at her hotel late last night," Stromberg said.

Both William's mother, Carla, and Phillips looked visibly upset as they got out of a limousine and walked into the house, Splash said.

"It has just broken everybody's heart in my family," Larry Williams, Michelle's father said yesterday.

"My heart goes out to everyone, his family, my family, we are just very saddened. The saddest thing is his daughter, whom he just loved dearly."

Now that two-year-old Matilda is left to grow up without her doting father, the responsibility to keep Heath Ledger's memory alive falls partly on her famous godfather, Jake Gyllenhaal.

Gyllenhaal, Ledger and Williams, bonded on the set of their Academy Award-winning hit Brokeback Mountain, for which they all received Oscar nominations.

"Heath and I are best friends now making the film was very intense for us," said Jake, 27, who played Heath's sheep-herding love interest in the blockbuster hit. He described being Matilda's godfather as "an amazing honor." Read more.

- Posted by Stephanie  
- Credit: Entertainment News

Where Is Jake Gyllenhaal?
TMZ

Jake Gyllenhaal has yet to be seen or heard from since the death of his close friend, Heath Ledger -- and people on the set of his new film are working hard to keep it that way.

Gyllenhaal is in New Mexico, currently filming his new movie, "Brothers." We're told there are no plans to shut down production, but Jake is very upset and doesn't want to talk to the media -- so the set has been closed to non-crew members and extra security has been hired.

Jake is the godfather to Heath's daughter, Matilda Rose.

- Posted by Stephanie  
- Credit: TMZ.com

'Brokeback Mountain' Star Found Dead
People

Heath Ledger, the actor who quickly transformed from Aussie heartthrob to Oscar nominee and doting dad, was found dead at his Manhattan residence Tuesday, a New York police spokesman confirms. He was 28.

Police say the death may have been drug-related and that "prescription-type drugs" were found near his body.

Ledger was found in the bedroom of his SoHo apartment around 3:30 p.m. by his housekeeper and a masseuse who had arrived for an appointment with the actor, police say.

Ledger was nude, lying on the floor curled up, at the foot of his bed. He did not respond when they shook him, and the housekeeper called 911. He was pronounced dead at 3:45 p.m. ET.

Authorities said they did not suspect foul play but that medication was found near the body.

"There were some drugs found around the body – prescription-type drugs," a police spokesman tells PEOPLE. The spokesman says there were two bottles of prescription sleep aids, and that the prescriptions were made out to Ledger.

A medical examiner removed Ledger's body from the apartment just before 6:30 p.m. ET, and New York City Medical Examiner spokeswoman Ellen Borakove says the autopsy is scheduled for Wednesday morning. Read more.

- Posted by Stephanie  
- Credit: People