Bale avoided news reports after Ledger's death

Christian Bale refused to watch the news after his 'The Dark Knight' co-star Heath Ledger died - fearing gossipy coverage would tarnish his memories of his friend.

Bale was left stunned after Ledger, who played the villainous Joker to his Batman in the 2008 blockbuster, died from an accidental prescription drug overdose in January 2008.

He chose to block out all reports about his friend's tragic passing - because he did not want to hear uninformed outsiders speculate about Ledger's death.

He told Esquire magazine: "I paid no attention to it. I knew him, I knew the family and why the hell would I sit there listening to idiots who don't know anything at all? I literally didn't read anything, didn't watch anything (after he died).

"If I happened to be watching anything that came on, I switched over straight away. It's incredible the way the voyeuristic outlook is accepted as news."

Bale still mourns Ledger's untimely death - because the Australian star was one of the few actors whose intensity and passion matched his own on set.

He added: "Many times I'll work with actors and I can tell they're thinking: 'What are you doing? Why are you going that far with it?' or 'You're nuts!' With Heath, I could feel him going: 'I love it!'

"It felt like we were really pushing each other on, to the limits of where you can go with it. He was a good guy. There's not a lot of actors who I stay in touch with. But Heath was one of them."