Michelle Williams has new attitude to life after Heath Ledger death

Heath Ledger's 2008 death turned his actress ex Michelle Williams' life upside down - but she insists the tragedy has helped her to make better choices about the film projects she chooses.

The Hollywood star was left heartbroken when Ledger suffered an accidental prescription drug overdose, and she has spent the past three years struggling to rebuild her life with the former couple's young daughter Matilda, now six.

But Michelle Williams admits the tragedy has taught her to appreciate the more important things in life.

She tells Vogue magazine, "Three years ago, it felt like we didn't have anything, and now my life - our life - has kind of repaired itself.

"(Heath Ledger's death) changed how I see the world and how I interact on a daily basis. It's changed the parent I am... It's changed the kind of work that I really want to do. It's become the lens through which I see life - that it's all impermanent."

Michelle Williams has also moved on in her personal life - she has found love with director Cary Fukunaga, two years after her split from another filmmaker, Spike Jonze.