On January 22-the anniver­sary of Heath Ledger's passing.  Hollywood will unveil this year's Academy Award nominees, and Heath is consid­ered a lock to secure a posthumous Best Supporting Actor nod for his performance as the Joker in The Dark Knight.

A year after Heath Ledger's death, his closest friends finally open up to Entertainment Weekly about his last days, life as a father to Matilda and fear of fame.

"I haven't talked about it until now. I'm really nervous," says actor Wes Bent­ley, one of Heath Ledger's closest friends. They costarred in 2002's The Four Feath­ers. "Heath's fun clouded its way through a room," says Wes. "It was infectious ...Some people think he'd party too much and take drugs. That wasn't the case. It was young energy. He was high off life."

"Heath al­ways seemed so mature," says 10 Things I Hate About You costar Julia Stiles. "I got the sense he was averse to becoming any kind of teen idol. I think he felt like 10 Things had more substance, but he anticipated that if he did more movies like this, he'd get stuck doing teen romantic comedies."

You can find the full cover feature on Heath at Entertainment Weekly