{"id":906332,"date":"2026-09-26T15:18:27","date_gmt":"2026-09-26T15:18:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/906332\/"},"modified":"2026-09-26T15:18:27","modified_gmt":"2026-09-26T15:18:27","slug":"magda-szubanski-reveals-heath-ledgers-kath-and-kim-role-after-their-viral-kiss","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/906332\/","title":{"rendered":"Magda Szubanski reveals Heath Ledger\u2019s Kath and Kim role after their viral kiss."},"content":{"rendered":"

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.<\/p>\n

In 2006, Szubanski attended the Australian Film Institute awards dressed as her beloved Kath and Kim character Sharon Strzelecki. <\/p>\n

Be the first to know when news breaks. Download our new app<\/a><\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

The moment has lived on in the years since, with Szubanski now reflecting on the pash in her upcoming memoir I Can\u2019t Tell You But I Will. <\/p>\n

\u201cHeath jumped out of his skin, composed himself, strode over, grabbed my face in his hands and planted one right on me,\u201d the actress said<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThen Sharon fainted. These are the \u2018actionless\u2019 moments actors live for,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

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\u2019s stalker.<\/p>\n

\u201cHeath rang me the following morning to tell me our red-carpet improv was the most fun he\u2019d had in ages. And he wanted to float an idea: could he be a guest on Kath and Kim \u2026 as Sharon\u2019s stalker! Mic drop,\u201d Szubanski said.<\/p>\n

Ledger\u2019s Kath and Kim plans were tragically cut short, however, following news of his death.<\/p>\n

\u201cHeath 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\u2019d died,\u201d Szubanski wrote. <\/p>\n

The actor passed away from an accidental overdose in New York in 2008, with Szubanski describing the loss in her memoir as \u201cimpossible to express\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is one of the great \u2018what ifs\u2019 of my life. What if he hadn\u2019t died, and we could have kept playing? The delight and hilarity that would have brought to us, and the world \u2026 it hurts to think about it,\u201d the comedian wrote. <\/p>\n

It\u2019s not the first time Szubanski has discussed the viral moment. <\/p>\n

Last year, she confirmed on social media<\/a> that she had pre-approved the kiss after some fans thought it was nonconsensual. <\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know how many times I have to correct the record and tell people it\u2019s not some rando fan!! It\u2019s me, Magda Szubanski, as my character Sharon Strzelecki from Aussie sitcom Kath and Kim!\u201d she wrote.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat said, Heath had no idea \u2018Sharon\u2019 was gonna scream like that and he responded like a true Sharon fan. He pashed her!\u201d<\/p>\n

Last week, Szubanski opened up about her cancer battle, saying in her first public interview since her 2025 diagnosis that \u201cit\u2019s almost sure that it will come back\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a question of \u2018when\u2019 and then \u2018how bad\u2019,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n

Szubanski\u2019s new memoir, I Can\u2019t Tell You But I Will, hits bookshelves on September 29.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Magda Szubanski has made a new revelation about her friendship with Heath Ledger, two decades after she passionately…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":906333,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[474296,474304,474283,474311,466424,474313,325111,342544,381463,474300,474303,474284,474295,474282,393590,402304,474299,474279,474280,472095,474272,414923,64,474287,63,474274,134,26183,40005,145912,474305,474285,474312,474293,474277,467993,474276,423178,474309,474298,474302,380061,391758,442015,393735,34033,13307,45755,71296,2022,467994,34030,474310,474281,474307,386710,1025,44,376628,474290,461902,474278,1861,471459,306646,1314,418660,428123,474308,474289,379529,56602,474291,474301,381853,474286,382541,376549,388320,474297,474294,474275,369254,444901,474273,377557,474306,474288,391669,392138,423069,474292,472035,394719,54798,380074,387364],"class_list":["post-906332","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-actionless","tag-moments-actors","tag-s-heath-ledger-confession","tag-s-kath-and-kim-plans","tag-s-new-memoir","tag-s-stalker","tag-my-life","tag-342544","tag-381463","tag-a-few-phone-calls","tag-a-guest","tag-a-loud-scream","tag-a-new-revelation","tag-a-prolonged-kiss","tag-a-question","tag-a-role","tag-a-sitcom","tag-a-true-sharon-fan","tag-a-viral-red-carpet-moment","tag-ages","tag-an-accidental-overdose","tag-an-idea","tag-au","tag-aussie-sitcom-kath-and-kim","tag-australia","tag-bookshelves","tag-entertainment","tag-guest","tag-heath","tag-heath-ledger","tag-her-2025-diagnosis","tag-her-beloved-kath-and-kim-character-sharon-strzelecki","tag-her-cancer-battle","tag-her-cool","tag-her-face-the-moment","tag-her-first-public-interview","tag-her-friendship","tag-her-memoir","tag-her-upcoming-memoir","tag-her-viral-kiss","tag-her-viral-moment","tag-his-death","tag-his-hands","tag-his-skin","tag-how-many-times","tag-kath-and-kim","tag-last-week","tag-last-year","tag-ledger","tag-london","tag-magda","tag-magda-szubanski","tag-magda-as-sharon","tag-mic","tag-my-character-sharon-strzelecki","tag-my-face","tag-new-york","tag-news","tag-no-idea","tag-one-right","tag-our-new-appwhen","tag-our-red-carpet-improv","tag-people","tag-september-29","tag-sharon","tag-social-media","tag-some-fans","tag-szubanski","tag-szubanski-said-ledger","tag-tell-all","tag-the-actor","tag-the-actress","tag-the-australian-film-institute-awards","tag-the-beloved-aussie-comedian","tag-the-comedian","tag-the-delight-and-hilarity","tag-the-first","tag-the-first-time","tag-the-following-morning","tag-the-great","tag-the-heartthrob","tag-the-improvised-moment","tag-the-kiss","tag-the-lasting-impact","tag-the-late-australian-actor","tag-the-loss","tag-the-most-fun","tag-the-pash","tag-the-plans","tag-the-record","tag-the-red-carpet","tag-the-then-27-year-old-ledger","tag-the-tragic-news","tag-the-viral-moment","tag-the-world","tag-the-years","tag-two-decades"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/906332","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=906332"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/906332\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/906333"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=906332"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=906332"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=906332"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}