'Incredibly close': How Heath Ledger helped a Kiwi actress meet her husband (2025)

“[Ledger] had an open-house policy for his Aussie friends who visited him in LA. I would stay at his place.”

Kessell credited Ledger for introducing her to her future husband, Australian director Gregor Jordan, who had given Ledger his first lead role in Jordan’s 1999 crime comedy film Two Hands.

“Heath was the one who said I had the same sense of humour as Gregor. I met him and instantly dropped my guard,” Kessell said.

“I was completely myself for the first time. I was so relaxed around him, and then we eloped after three months and married in 2004.

“He is my best friend.”

Admitting she never took Jordan’s last name, having once doubted the idea she would ever marry, Kessell told the Sydney Morning Herald a turning point was when she and Jordan moved to Los Angeles and had their first of two babies.

“We lived there on and and off for 15 years and moved back to Australia during Covid. The boys are happy in Sydney and I go back and forth to LA constantly for work.”

Ledger, the star of Hollywood blockbusters like The Dark Knight, 10 Things I Hate About You and The Patriot, died from an accidental overdose of prescription drugs – including sleeping pills, painkillers and anti-anxiety medication – in his SoHo apartment on January 22, 2008.

He was 28 years old.

Kessell, born and raised in Auckland, first began acting in homegrown productions like Xena: Warrior Princess and Hercules: The Legendary Journeys.

She moved to Sydney at the age of 19 in pursuit of greater acting opportunities.

Growing her television presence with appearances in American shows like Criminal Minds and CSI: Miami, Kessell’s more recent work has seen her star in Emmy-nominated thriller series Yellowjackets.