Years later, Jake Gyllenhaal still doesn't have the words to describe losing Heath Ledger

Time may heal all wounds, but that's no guarantee they won't leave scars.

The untimely death of Heath Ledger sent shockwaves through Hollywood in 2008 -- particularly to his Brokeback Mountain costar Jake Gyllenhaal. Now, in an exclusive interview with People, Gyllenhaal reveals how Ledger's death still affects him -- he finds it difficult to talk about to this day.

"Personally, it affected me in ways I can't necessarily put in words or even would want to talk about publicly," Gyllenhaal said. "In terms of professionally, I think I was at an age where mortality was not always clear to me." 

Ledger died in January 2008 of a prescription drug overdose. He was 28, and Gyllenhaal was 27, an age when -- as his interviewer notes -- one is not accustomed to dealing with the death of friends. 

Gyllenhaal described the experience of filming Brokeback as "deeply sad," a shoot characterized by the "particular loneliness" of a small cast filming on location.

"I think you live in this bubble, too, of making films," Gyllenhaal said. "There are real friends, and there is a real community. There is also that where [Macklemore] says, 'The curtain closes and nobody notices'...I think that's true, and I think that's okay."

"At the time, I assumed everyone would notice -- and they did with Heath dying, but I think it [gave me] the experience of, 'This is fleeting.'" Gyllenhaal continued. "And none of the attention or synthesized love that comes from the success of a film really matters at all. What matters is the relationships you make when you make a film, and the people you learn from when you're preparing for a film. That changed a lot for me."

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