Actress Michelle Williams appealed to the media for privacy for herself and her daughter Matilda on Friday in her first statement since the death of actor Heath Ledger.

"My heart is broken," Williams said in a statement released by Ledger's spokeswoman. "Please respect our need to grieve privately."

Heath Ledger and Michelle Williams arrive at the 78th Academy Awards in March 2006. Williams has appealed for privacy to mourn him.
(Associated Press)

Williams, 27, met Ledger on the set of the 2005 movie Brokeback Mountain and the two fell in love. Williams played Ledger's wife in the movie, which earned him an Academy Award nomination.

The couple lived together in New York and had a daughter Matilda, now age two.

However, at the time of Ledger's death last month, they were living apart.

"I am the mother of the most tender-hearted, high-spirited, beautiful little girl who is the spitting image of her father," Williams said in her statement.

"All that I can cling to is his presence inside her that reveals itself every day. His family and I watch Matilda as she whispers to trees, hugs animals and takes steps two at a time and we know that he is with us still. She will be brought up with the best memories of him."

Ledger was found dead Jan. 22 in his New York apartment. An autopsy was inconclusive and police are awaiting the results of toxicology reports to determine the cause of death.

Williams has postponed filming on her next movie, Blue Valentine, while she grieves for Ledger. 

Access Hollywood is reporting Williams is flying to Australia for a family funeral for Ledger, scheduled for next week in Perth.