Ledger was able to get at the emotional core of every character he played, often channelling the sadness that went with love or the lack of it. Even though by all accounts, he was a happy, loving father to his daughter Matilda with ex Michelle Williams, he evoked deep sadness on-screen, if it wasn't an apparent part of his own life. His ability to get at his characters' humanity made each of them so individual. Or, to paraphrase The New York Times , whether in a Stetson or a wig, Ledger was an actor who was hard to pin down.