"So, this is your first real starring role?" the weatherman asks.

"No," Ledger says, grinning, "not really."

It's all downhill from there. A few minutes later, the weatherman asks Ledger what he does when he's not working. He mumbles something about photography ("my passion"), surfing and picking his nose. On the way out Ledger grumbles, "Well, that was a fucking well-prepared interview, wasn't it?" He lights up a cigarette, climbs into the waiting car and drives off. Back to the promotional treadmill.

"Believe me, this is not and will not be a smooth ride," he said earlier, sitting in the hotel lobby. At that moment, he looked 10 years older than his age. He sounded 20 years older. "It's climbing up that roller coaster not knowing just how far and how fast it's going to drop down. And, yeah, it's scary, it's nerve-racking, it's exciting, it's interesting. I'm really curious about it. And I'm discovering it as I go, because it's all new.

"This is what I'm being faced with over the next month -- over the next year -- is the yin and the yang and balancing it out, because you get both the yin and yang out of doing the job, and if the yang starts to overbalance the yin, that's when it becomes bad and I just wouldn't do it, because it's not worth it. I get a lot of joy and pleasure out of life, full stop. I work to live, and that's the only reason why I work, so I wouldn't think twice about stopping. But for now, it's fine. I can get through all of this crap and see it for what it is."