Brian Helgeland, writer, director

I wrote and directed the Mel Gibson film Payback but got fired during post-production. It was my first film as director and I thought my career was over. It was during this downtime that I wrote A Knight’s Tale. I loved the idea that jousting tournaments were medieval sports, but I had never figured out what to do with it. I thought about the ideas underpinning it: a peasant who wants to be a noble was like a screenwriter wanting to be a director. It’s a guy trying to be something he has no right to be.

The studio had a shortlist of actors for William/Sir Ulrich, at the top of which was Paul Walker. I met him but he seemed too contemporary, like a guy who should be driving race cars – which he did so well in The Fast and the Furious. I just thought: “You’re not going to pull this off.” Heath Ledger was a rising star at the time. I met him at a restaurant in LAX airport and he had this long leather case with him. “What’s in the case?” I asked. He said: “It’s my didgeridoo.” “Can you play it?” I asked. He said: “Of course I can.” And he started blowing on it like a white Australian Miles Davis. Everyone was looking. I fell in love with him in that moment and offered him the part.

I wrote the part of Chaucer for Paul Bettany, although Sony wanted Hugh Grant. I’ve got nothing against Hugh but I thought the tone would be skewed if it was him and three other guys. The movie has since been written about by Chaucer scholars – they love it.

We jousted for real with re-enactors from a Las Vegas jousting show. But we made the lances of balsa wood so they wouldn’t kill anybody. The art department made compartments in them and put uncooked spaghetti in: when the lances broke, they exploded and the pasta went up in the air looking like splinters. We put the Nike logo on Sir Ulrich’s armour as a joke. Years later, someone at Nike told me how much they loved it. I thought: “We could’ve got so many free sneakers!”

Heath got pretty bashed up. He’d proudly lift his shirt and there’d be huge abrasions. After the movie came out, we were demonstrating how to joust to his agent. He had a broom and I had a mic stand: he hit me in the mouth by accident and knocked my tooth out.

It got reviewed badly. Someone criticised the score – not the modern songs but the score itself, because it has electric guitar. I said: “Should it have violins and french horns? Because they didn’t exist in 1370 either.”

Heath said A Knight’s Tale was like a photo album of how much fun he had making it. It’s about fighting the power – and that speaks to today very well.

Paul Bettany, played Chaucer

I auditioned and the studio said: “We don’t get him.” Brian flew me out for another audition and they still didn’t get it. Finally he said: “If you don’t cast him, I’m not making the movie.” And because they had Heath attached, who was the hottest thing going after 10 Things I Hate About You, they went: “All right, we’ll let Brian have Paul in this fucking movie.”

So Brian started my Hollywood career. He was like a shining knight. I knew exactly what it was like to be an unrecognised artist. I used to have a philosophy for whenever I was nervous before an audition. I’d think: “All you have to do is fake confidence for 15 minutes.” That was the basis of Chaucer for me: fake it till you make it.

There are lots of jokes in Chaucer’s first speech but we were in Prague and the extras didn’t speak English, so they just stared at me. We drew up these massive cards that said “Applaud” or “Laugh” in Czech. I came away thinking I’d really killed it when they laughed. I was amazed at my own shallowness.

I was very nervous about the naked scenes. Before we shot, the costume team knocked on my trailer with a sock on a hanger. I asked: “What’s this for?” They said: “To put on your junk in case you’re embarrassed.” I said: “The only thing more embarrassing than walking down the street naked is doing it with a sock on your penis.” Mercifully, it was a warm day. After all the roles I’ve played, which includes Vision for Marvel, I mostly get “Hey, naked guy!” shouted at me in the street.

Heath got a tattoo mid-shoot. It was a tiny circle with a circle around it and then a bigger circle around that, like a target. He said: “That’s me in the middle. That circle is the Earth, and the other circle is the universe.” I said: “You’ve put yourself right in the middle? I’ve never been that confident!” But he was that confident in the most joyful, winning way.

So much has been said about Heath and darkness, but the moment you saw him, he just radiated light, happiness and joy. He was a ball of creativity and charisma, so very alive that even today it’s difficult to imagine him dead. I often find myself wondering what beautiful things he would have made.

A Knight’s Tale is a film about a boy from nowhere who changes his stars and I love that. It’s full of positive messaging. It was a magical time.

• A 25th anniversary 4K restoration of A Knight’s Tale opens in UK cinemas on 20 February