HEATH LEDGER - LEDGER FIRES AUSTRALIAN OUTLAW DEBATE

Hollywood heart-throb HEATH LEDGER has sparked a debate in Australia about the controversial outlaw NED KELLY - whom he portrays as a romantic, pistol-wielding hero in his latest film.

Ledger's interpretation of the 19th-century legend - who evokes the kind of secret admiration among Australians that Americans might have for train robber JESSE JAMES - has reignited an argument over Kelly's place in Aussie history.

Kelly has been hailed in the movie as the champion of the Irish underdog, fighting an unjust British colonial system that favoured the wealthy over the poor.

To some historians, however, he was nothing more than a horse-thieving murderer.

But Ledger says, "I loved how passionate he was and I knew I could really sink my teeth into that."