New Zealand actress Simone Kessell credits ex Heath Ledger for introducing her to director husband

Yellowjackets actress Simone Kessell (left) and Australian actor Heath Ledger dated in the 1990s. Photo / Getty Images

• Kiwi actress Simone Kessell met her husband, Gregor Jordan, through her ex-partner, the late Heath Ledger.
• Kessell and Ledger remained friends after dating in the late 1990s.
• Kessell and Jordan married in 2004 and have two children together.

New Zealand actress Simone Kessell has revealed how she met her husband of 21 years through the help of her ex-partner, the late actor Heath Ledger.

Kessell, best-known for her role in popular thriller drama series Yellowjackets, dated the Australian actor in the late 1990s, moving to Hollywood after he convinced her to take a shot at work in the United States’ film capital.

Speaking to the Sydney Morning Herald, Kessell, 49, said she and Ledger “were incredibly close” at the time.

While they eventually went their separate ways, the pair maintained a connection as friends and continued to stay in touch over the years.

“[Ledger] had an open-house policy for his Aussie friends who visited him in LA. I would stay at his place.”

Kessell credited Ledger for introducing her to her future husband, Australian director Gregor Jordan, who had given Ledger his first lead role in Jordan’s 1999 crime comedy film Two Hands.

Simone Kessell (left) and director Gregor Jordan have been married since 2004. Photo / Getty Images

“Heath was the one who said I had the same sense of humour as Gregor. I met him and instantly dropped my guard,” Kessell said.

“I was completely myself for the first time. I was so relaxed around him, and then we eloped after three months and married in 2004.

“He is my best friend.”

Admitting she never took Jordan’s last name, having once doubted the idea she would ever marry, Kessell told the Sydney Morning Herald a turning point was when she and Jordan moved to Los Angeles and had their first of two babies.

“We lived there on and and off for 15 years and moved back to Australia during Covid. The boys are happy in Sydney and I go back and forth to LA constantly for work.”

Ledger, the star of Hollywood blockbusters like The Dark Knight, 10 Things I Hate About You and The Patriot, died from an accidental overdose of prescription drugs – including sleeping pills, painkillers and anti-anxiety medication – in his SoHo apartment on January 22, 2008.

He was 28 years old.

Kessell, born and raised in Auckland, first began acting in homegrown productions like Xena: Warrior Princess and Hercules: The Legendary Journeys.

She moved to Sydney at the age of 19 in pursuit of greater acting opportunities.

Growing her television presence with appearances in American shows like Criminal Minds and CSI: Miami, Kessell’s more recent work has seen her star in Emmy-nominated thriller series Yellowjackets.