“After the movie came out, we were demonstrating how to joust to his agent,” director Brian Helgeland reveals for the film’s 25th anniversary.

Heath Ledger knocked out *A Knight’s Tale *director’s tooth while fake jousting with a broom

"After the movie came out, we were demonstrating how to joust to his agent," director Brian Helgeland reveals for the film's 25th anniversary.

By Sydney Bucksbaum

Sydney Bucksbaum

Sydney Bucksbaum is a staff writer at **. She has been working at EW since 2019 and is a published author. Her work has previously appeared in *TV Guide Magazine*, E! News/E! Online, *The Hollywood Reporter*, Mashable, Bustle, IGN, DCComics.com, Inverse, *The Daily Northwestern*, and more.

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February 18, 2026 5:30 p.m. ET

Heath Ledger in 'A Knight's Tale'. Credit:

Heath Ledger and the creator of *A Knight's Tale* got a little too into medieval jousting after filming their cult classic 2001 film.

In anticipation of the comedic action movie's upcoming 25th anniversary, *A Knight's Tale *writer-director Brian Helgeland shared a hilarious memory of a mishap with the late actor that forever changed his smile.

According to the filmmaker, Ledger actually knocked a tooth from his mouth while they were fake jousting, and it wasn't even for the movie itself.

"After the movie came out, we were demonstrating how to joust to his agent," Helgeland told *The Guardian*. "He had a broom, and I had a mic stand. He hit me in the mouth by accident and knocked my tooth out."

Heath Ledger and 'A Knight's Tale' writer-director Brian Helgeland.

Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic

Ledger — who starred in *A Knight's Tale* as peasant squire William Thatcher who pretends to be a knight to gain fame, riches, and love — also sustained his own injuries during filming all those jousting scenes.

"Heath got pretty bashed up," Helgeland said. "He’d proudly lift his shirt, and there’d be huge abrasions."

The filmmaker revealed that they "jousted for real" in the movie using "re-enactors from a Las Vegas jousting show." But steps were taken to ensure the safety of all involved — that is, their mortal safety, aside from a few injuries here and there.

"We made the lances of balsa wood so they wouldn’t kill anybody," Helgeland said. "The art department made compartments in them and put uncooked spaghetti in: when the lances broke, they exploded, and the pasta went up in the air looking like splinters."

The writer-director looks back on the making of *A Knight's Tale* with deep satisfaction, knowing what it meant to Ledger before his death (the actor died at age 28 from an accidental overdose of prescription drugs in 2008).

Paul Bettany says missing his costar Heath Ledger has kept him from watching 'A Knight's Tale' since it came out

Remembering Heath Ledger

"Heath said *A Knight’s Tale* was like a photo album of how much fun he had making it," Helgeland said. "It’s about fighting the power – and that speaks to today very well."

Paul Bettany, who starred opposite Ledger as the charming writer Chaucer, also remembered the tattoo that Ledger got "mid-shoot" that made him laugh.

"It was a tiny circle with a circle around it and then a bigger circle around that, like a target," Bettany said. "He said: 'That’s me in the middle. That circle is the Earth, and the other circle is the universe.' I said: 'You’ve put yourself right in the middle? I’ve never been that confident!' But he was that confident in the most joyful, winning way."

Bettany added that "so much has been said about Heath and darkness," but he only remembers his late costar in positive ways.

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"The moment you saw him, he just radiated light, happiness, and joy," Bettany said. "He was a ball of creativity and charisma, so very alive that even today it’s difficult to imagine him dead. I often find myself wondering what beautiful things he would have made."

The actor previously revealed that he hasn't rewatched the movie since it first came out for a touching reason.

"I saw [the film] when it first came out. I've never seen it again since. There are lots of reasons for that, and just one of them is that I miss Heath too much," Bettany said in September 2025.**

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Source: “EW Movies”