Magda Szubanski has made a new revelation about her friendship with Heath Ledger, two decades after she passionately kissed the late Australian actor in a viral red carpet moment.
In 2006, Szubanski attended the Australian Film Institute awards dressed as her beloved Kath and Kim character Sharon Strzelecki.
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When encountering the then-27-year-old Ledger on the red carpet, Magda-as-Sharon understandably lost her cool, letting out a loud scream before the heartthrob planted a prolonged kiss on her face.
The moment has lived on in the years since, with Szubanski now reflecting on the pash in her upcoming memoir I Can’t Tell You But I Will.
“Heath jumped out of his skin, composed himself, strode over, grabbed my face in his hands and planted one right on me,” the actress said.
“Then Sharon fainted. These are the ‘actionless’ moments actors live for,” she said.
Szubanski went on to reveal the lasting impact the improvised moment had on Ledger, saying it made him consider guest starring on Kath and Kim in a role as Sharon’s stalker.
“Heath rang me the following morning to tell me our red-carpet improv was the most fun he’d had in ages. And he wanted to float an idea: could he be a guest on Kath and Kim … as Sharon’s stalker! Mic drop,” Szubanski said.
Ledger’s Kath and Kim plans were tragically cut short, however, following news of his death.
“Heath and I had a few phone calls about it, and we were scheduled to meet in London when the tragic news came through that he’d died,” Szubanski wrote.
The actor passed away from an accidental overdose in New York in 2008, with Szubanski describing the loss in her memoir as “impossible to express”.
“It is one of the great ‘what ifs’ of my life. What if he hadn’t died, and we could have kept playing? The delight and hilarity that would have brought to us, and the world … it hurts to think about it,” the comedian wrote.
It’s not the first time Szubanski has discussed the viral moment.
Last year, she confirmed on social media that she had pre-approved the kiss after some fans thought it was nonconsensual.
“I don’t know how many times I have to correct the record and tell people it’s not some rando fan!! It’s me, Magda Szubanski, as my character Sharon Strzelecki from Aussie sitcom Kath and Kim!” she wrote.
“That said, Heath had no idea ‘Sharon’ was gonna scream like that and he responded like a true Sharon fan. He pashed her!”
Last week, Szubanski opened up about her cancer battle, saying in her first public interview since her 2025 diagnosis that “it’s almost sure that it will come back”.
“It’s a question of ‘when’ and then ‘how bad’,” she said.
Szubanski’s new memoir, I Can’t Tell You But I Will, hits bookshelves on September 29.