Washington, Jan 20 (ANI): Denying reports that late actor Heath Ledger was experimenting with drugs at the time of his death last year, British director Terry Gilliam has insisted that the actor was “clean”.

Ledger died on January 22, 2008 from an overdose of prescription drugs he was taking to cure insomnia.

And although his first death anniversary is approaching, many still speculate that the Dark Knight star was on much stronger narcotics.

However, Gilliam, who was working with Ledger on his final film The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus when the star died, wants to set the record straight.

“The insomnia was really getting to him. He”d arrive (on set) in the morning looking really shattered… (but) he”d just whip the thing up into another gear very quickly and off we”d go, Contactmusic quoted him as telling Entertainment Weekly magazine.

He added: “They (media) tried to hard to pin (drug abuse) on him, but they couldn”t because Heath was as clean as you could be.

“We know about the pills, but he had stopped smoking. Marijuana was no longer in his life… He wasn”t drinking. Nothing. This was a body that had cleansed itself for over a year of anything.” (ANI)