Heath Ledger says he will take a year off from acting to help when his baby with girlfriend, former Dawson's Creek star Michelle Williams, is born.

The couple's first child is due in the autumn, and Ledger - who has been promoting his new movie, The Brother's Grimm - doesn't want to go back to work until the baby is at least nine months old.

Ledger says, "I want to spend at least a few months bonding. I might do something in the middle of next year because I'll have had a year off by then."