Magda Szubanski reveals phone call from Heath Ledger 20 years after iconic kiss

It has been 20 years since the infamous kiss between Magda Szubanski (dressed as Kath and Kim character Sharon Strzelecki) and Heath Ledger. Who could forget the screeches or the pash rash.

Now, almost two decades on, Szubanski revealed Ledger called her a day after the improvised red carpet stunt.

He wanted to ask if he could play Sharon’s stalker on Kath and Kim.

Millions have rewatched the footage of Szubanski and a then 27-year-old Ledger’s kiss, at the 2006 Australian Film Institute Awards, with some (who are likely unfamiliar with Kath and Kim) convinced that Szubanski was a regular fan.

Szubanski reflected on the now iconic bit in her upcoming memoir I Can’t Tell You But I Will, out on Tuesday September 29.

“We had decided that Sharon, who was in her role as assistant stage manager that night, would ambush Heath and go for the pash. Heath knew nothing of our plan,” Szubanski wrote.

“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.

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“But what came next 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.”

Ledger died in New York in 2008, aged 28, from an accidental overdose of prescription medications.

Szubanski reflected on the profound loss of Ledger in her memoir.

“The loss of a superb human like Heath reverberates so deeply and widely it is impossible to express. But it is one of the great ‘what ifs’ of my life,” the comedian wrote.

“What if he hadn’t died, and we could have kept playing? The delight and hilarity that would have brought to us, and the world … it hurts to think about it.”

It’s not the first time Szubanski has talked about the viral moment.

In 2025, Szubanski confirmed on social media that the kiss was preapproved and planned after some fans thought it was non-consensual.

“I don’t know how many times I have to correct the record and tell people it’s not some rando fan!! It’s me, Magda Szubanski, as my character Sharon Strzelecki from Aussie sitcom Kath and Kim!” she wrote.

I Can’t Tell You But I Will is Szubanski’s second memoir. It comes after her successful 2016 book, Reckoning.

In Reckoning Szubanski delved into her suburban Australian childhood, her father’s harrowing past in the Polish resistance during World War II, and her personal journey coming to terms with her sexuality.

The new book is about Szubanski’s transition from a comedian to a public campaigner while dealing with the illness and death of her mother.

In 2025 Szubanski shared she was diagnosed with stage 4 Mantle Cell Lymphoma, a rare and aggressive type of blood cancer.

In a recent interview with 60 Minutes, she opened up about her cancer battle, saying that “it’s almost sure that it will come back”.

“It’s a question of ‘when’ and then ‘how bad’,” she said.