Monday, February 16, 2009

Terry Gilliam: Rescuing Dr. Parnassus Was "Madness"

Terry Gilliam has spoken about the difficulty of finishing The Imaginarium Of Doctor Parnassus without Heath Ledger.
"It was madness, frankly, trying to rescue a film with Heath dying in the middle of it. But I think the sheer pressure of having to do something made us just go for it. You couldn't double-think anything, you just make some decisions, jump in and hope it worked.

"But shooting it after that point, I was never sure whether it would or wouldn't work. But I can actually say it works and it works brilliantly."
The movie, which stars Ledger, Christopher Plummer and Tom Waits, is about the leader of a travelling theatre troupe which takes audience members through a magical mirror to explore their imaginations.

Production was suspended following Ledger's death, while Johnny Depp, Jude Law and Colin Farrell stepped in to portray his character Tony in dream sequences.