Australian Actress Who Heath Ledger Kissed in Viral 2006 Video Says Late Actor Completely Improvised the Moment

Virginia ChamleeMon, September 28, 2026 at 5:50 PM UTC

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Magda Szubanski and Heath Ledger in 2006Credit: 9 news australia -

Heath Ledger improvised a passionate kiss with Australian actress Magda Szubanski during a red carpet interview in 2006

Szubanski revealed the moment — which went viral — was planned on her end, but she was completely surprised Ledger played along

Ledger later called Szubanski to pitch a guest role on Kath & Kim as her character’s stalker

A 2006 viral video in which Heath Ledger passionately kissed a woman on the red carpet at the L’Oreal Paris 2006 AFI Awards was entirely improvised on the actor’s end — though the Australian actress was in character at the time.

In the video, which has since been viewed millions of times, actress Magda Szubanski was on the carpet as her character Sharon Strzelecki, whom she played on the Australian comedy Kath & Kim.

At one point, she came upon Ledger being interviewed and shrieked. Ledger jumped, but then immediately turned and cupped Szubanski’s face before kissing her. Szubanski, now 65, immediately fake-fainted and fell to the floor.

Magda Szubanski at the L’Oreal Paris 2006 AFI Awards in 2006Credit: Simon Fergusson/Getty

Some viewers don’t realize Szubanski was in character at the time, as the video is often shared online as “Heath Ledger kisses fan.”

In her memoir, I Can’t Tell You but I Will,Szubanski revealed the moment was improvised. The actress said Ledger was such a good sport about it he called her the next day to ask if he could play her character’s stalker on Kath & Kim.

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“We had decided that Sharon, who was in her role as assistant stage manager that night, would ambush Heath and go for the pash [Australian slang for kiss]. Heath knew nothing of our plan,” Szubanski wrote in her new memoir, I Can’t Tell You but I Will, as excerpted by The Guardian.

She continued, “But as soon as Sharon saw Heath, overtaken by my own avatar, she went off-script and screamed. Heath jumped out of his skin, composed himself, strode over, grabbed my face in his hands and planted one right on me. Then Sharon fainted. These are the ‘actionless’ moments actors live for.”

What came next, Szubanski wrote, “was even better.”

“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. 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,” she added.

Ledger died at age 28 on Jan. 22, 2008, after an accidental overdose from combining sleeping pills with other prescription medications.

The actor was best known for a wide variety of film roles from the 1999 rom-com 10 Things I Hate About You to the 2005 drama Brokeback Mountain. He won a posthumous Academy Award for his performance as The Joker in the 2008 Batman superhero epic The Dark Knight.

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Source: “AOL Entertainment”