Heath Ledger "Brokeback Mountain", Ledger costarred with fellow Australian Abbie Cornish in the 2006 Australian film "Candy," an adaptation of the 1998 novel "," as young heroin addicts in love attempting to break free of their addiction, whose mentor is played by Geoffrey Rush; for his performance as sometime poet Dan, Ledger was nominated for three "Best Actor" awards, including one of the Film Critics Circle of Australia Awards, which both Cornish and Rush won in their categories. Shortly after the release of "Candy", Ledger was invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. As one of six actors
Heath Ledger months after Ledger's death, on 23 December 2008, Jake Coyle, writing for the Associated Press, announced that "Heath Ledger's death was voted 2008's top entertainment story by U.S. newspaper and broadcast editors surveyed by The Associated Press". He claimed that this was partially a result of the "shock and confusion" surrounding the circumstances of Ledger's death, as well as due to Ledger's "legacy [...] in a roundly acclaimed performance as the Joker in the year's biggest box office hit "The Dark Knight"." After Ledger's death, in response to some press reports about his will, filed in New York City on