Welsh actor Christian Bale has paid tribute to Australian film star Heath Ledger, who was found dead in mysterious circumstances in his New York apartment last week.

Haverfordwest-born Bale, aged 33, is currently on screens as one of the incarnations of American rock icon Bob Dylan in I'm Not There, alongside Ledger.

Bale also resurrected his Batman Begins role opposite Ledger's menacing portrayal of Joker in The Dark Knight, which is scheduled to open this summer.

Bale paid tribute to Academy Award nominated Ledger, aged 28, as a great actor.

He said: "Heath was an incredible actor and he brought a very, very scary Joker to life. It's shocking. Heath shocked us as the Joker and it his death shocked all of us."

Bale also told how portraying a horseman in his new western 3:10 To Yuma brought his own mortality to mind after a life-threatening incident as a young boy.

"Apparently it's a strange thing to happen, a horse treading on a person, but it has happened to me," he added.

"When I was about five I was being an idiot.

"I ran up behind the horse and smacked it on the rear.

"It was up against the fence and had nowhere else to go and it ran over me, but I didn't really get hurt because it was very muddy."

Bale insists he has learned his lesson and was true to his word by arriving a week early for filming to practice his horse riding.