Michelle Williams says Succession’s Jeremy Strong was a huge help after Heath Ledger died

Now expecting her third child—her second with husband Tommy Kail—Oscar-nominated actor Michelle Williams is reflecting on the support system she and daughter Matilda Ledger relied on following the death of her former partner Heath Ledger, and it seems Succession star Jeremy Strong really stepped up for the family.

It seems Strong, whose intensity provoked a bit of teasing earlier this year after a profile painted him as über-serious, is just as committed to his role as a playmate as he is to his film and TV work. In a recent interview with Variety, Williams revealed, “Jeremy was serious enough to hold the weight of a child’s broken heart and sensitive enough to understand how to approach her through play and games and silliness,” adding that after Ledger died in 2008, Strong let Matilda ride on his back as he pretended to be a pony.

Four years after meeting at the Williamstown Theatre Festival, Strong, Williams’s sister, and another friend moved into Williams’s home to support her adjustment to single parenthood. Said Williams, “[Matilda] didn’t grow up with her father, but she grew up with her Jeremy and we were changed by his ability to play as though his life depended upon it, because hers did.”

In addition to being what sounds like an incredible caregiver, Strong is, of course, an immensely gifted actor. As Williams said, “We’ve all been in awe of his talent. We’ve watched him work harder than anyone and wait a long time for other people to recognize it. So when he became so celebrated, we all celebrated.”

Michelle Williams herself can go to a pretty intense place. For Blue Valentine, she and costar Ryan Gosling apparently spent a month acting out their relationship to create a backstory. As in, they acted out running errands together, or doing Christmas morning. “I don’t know many actors who’d commit themselves so thoroughly to what they’re doing,” said Blue Valentine’s writer-director Derek Cianfrance. Well, we can think of one!

This story was originally published on GLAMOUR US.