Rose Byrne is looking back at her friendship with the late Heath Ledger, which began when they were just 18 years old. "We were just kids," Byrne, 46, told Dax Shepard and Monica Padman on Shepard's "Armchair Expert" podcast on Monday, October 27. She added that Ledger was "such a charmer" when they met on the set of the 1999 Australian film Two Hands. "He was a generous guy and such a talent and could have gone so many ways," Byrne continued of her former costar, who died of an accidental drug overdose at age 28 in January 2008. "We were close when we were 18, 19. We did a film together, and it went to Sundance." Byrne added that Ledger, who appeared in the famous Australian soap opera Home and Away before landing his breakout role in the 1999 film 10 Things I Hate About You, was confident in the types of projects he wanted to take on. Michael Caine Remembers Heath Ledger's 'Heartbreaking' Death in New Book "He was such a great example of an artist that he was always getting off at these TV shows when we were starting out, and he was really like, 'I don't want to do that. I don't want to just be a heartthrob,'" the Neighbors star said. Shepard, 50, joked, "They gave him on a silver platter after [the 2001 movie A Knight's Tale.] They're like, 'Hey, do you want to be sexy and make 10 million a movie?'" Byrne said she admired Ledger for being able to turn down TV roles at such a young age. "At that age, it's really hard. I didn't have that confidence to be like, 'OK, I'll just not do TV,' she continued. "I'd do anything." Byrne gushed that Ledger was "so sweet" throughout their 10-year friendship, noting that she "stayed with him a bunch of times" and he helped get her into auditions. Rose Byrne, Heath Ledger Lindsay Brice/Getty Images Byrne has opened up about her dynamic with Ledger in the past, often crediting him with helping to jumpstart her career in the U.S. "It was a whole mix of us: actors who got work, actors who didn't," she told The Independent in 2022. "Being Australian, you're outsiders, aliens, so you've got to band together. Heath was a real champion of that. He left early and started to get work here [in the States]. He was so instrumental in helping me and a lot of people get work, and get into rooms." Byrne added that it felt like an adventure. "Just all of us driving to Joshua Tree, or staying at Heath's [house] in Los Feliz. We were all in our late teens or early 20s, and there was such fervor to it all," she said. Byrne reminisced about her time filming Two Hands with Ledger via Instagram in 2018. Courteney Cox's 'Most Important Relationship' Was With Michael Keaton "Twenty years ago! Two Hands!" she captioned a throwback photo from the movie. "Aussie kids on their first film. my own vintage polyester frock for $18. just bleached my hair in kitchen sink. Heath trying to be serious 🙃 goofball 💛." Three months before Ledger's death, he called it quits with ex Michelle Williams after four years of dating. The pair shared daughter Matilda, whom they welcomed in October 2005. During a May appearance on Shepard's podcast, Williams, 45, got emotional as she opened up about Matilda, 19, keeping Ledger's memory alive. "[He was] so special, so special," she said. "Thank God there's Matilda."