Michelle Williams says Jeremy Strong helped raise her daughter after Heath Ledger's death

• Michelle Williams said Jeremy Strong helped to raise her daughter after Heath Ledger died.

• Strong moved into Williams' house after Ledger died from an overdose in 2008.

• "We were changed by his ability to play as though his life depended upon it, because hers did," Williams said.

Michelle Williams said "Succession" actor Jeremy Strong helped to raise her daughter after Heath Ledger died, according to Variety.

Williams and Strong met at the 2004 Williamstown Theatre Festival and became friends, Variety reported. Just four years later, Ledger — her partner at the time and father of their daughter — died from an accidental overdose.

Strong moved into Williams' home at that point and helped to raise her daughter Matilda, according to Variety. She said Strong would let her "ride on his back, pretending that he was a pony."

"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," Williams said.

"[Matilda] didn't grow up with her father," she continued, "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."

Williams revealed the version of Strong she knows is far from the picture painted of him by a New Yorker article that characterized him as "overly intense."

She told Variety that the article was "difficult to read" and the blowback from it was "hard to witness."

"We've all been in awe of his talent," Williams said. "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."

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