Michelle Williams has retreated into hiding as The Dark Knight shatters box office records in North America . The actress, who has a two year-old daugher named Matilda with the late Heath Ledger, has told friends that she cannot cope with the massive hype surrounding the film, which has sparked Oscar buzz for Ledger who takes on the role of Batman’s nemesis The Joker.

“The last few weeks have been particularly hard on Michelle because Heath’s face has been plastered all over TV and on billboards. It’s been extraordinarily difficult as she tries to somehow come to terms with his death and what that means for little Matilda,” a friend of Michelle’s told the Daily Telegraph on Sunday.

“Then there is the awful, festering issue of what he was worth, where the money has gone and what there is going to be in the estate for Matilda.”