'Nothing's permanent... not even death'
September 27th 2009 11:13
Heath Ledger may have died in January 2008, but his spirit lives on in his movies. Ledger's final film, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, is due for release in Australia at the end of October, with the director saying that Ledger "would have wanted to see it finished".
"The thing about Heath was that he was all positive," said Terry Gilliam, the director of The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus. "There wasn't a darkness about him and we had to hold on to that. It eased the grief in a way. Because even after he died we were still working with him every day... I think it is important that we got it done. Heath would have wanted to see it finished."
Ledger had only completed two-thirds of the filming for his role in the movie, as a mysterious stranger who joins the off-beat travelling theatre company of the immortal Dr Parnassus (played by Christopher Plummer). However, due to the magical nature of the film's subjects, Gilliam was able to write in shape-shifting abilities for Ledger's character, meaning that his friends Johnny Depp, Colin Farrell and Jude Law could fill in Ledger's missing scenes.
"He was so strong," Gilliam said of the late Aussie actor, who won a posthumous Oscar for his unforgettable role as The Joker in The Dark Knight. "That's why none of it makes sense. The last night before he died we were shooting in Clerkenwell in London, this scene where Dr Parnassus's wagon collapses. The last piece of film of Heath is of him holding on for dear life to the back of a runaway travelling theatre. What a way to go! He was doing everything that night, all his own stunts. You really felt as a director there was nothing he wasn't capable of."
Highly anticipated, not only for its late star but for its epic appeal, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus is due to hit Australian cinemas on October 29th, 2009. Here's the trailer:
He will live forever on the screen
"The thing about Heath was that he was all positive," said Terry Gilliam, the director of The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus. "There wasn't a darkness about him and we had to hold on to that. It eased the grief in a way. Because even after he died we were still working with him every day... I think it is important that we got it done. Heath would have wanted to see it finished."
Ledger had only completed two-thirds of the filming for his role in the movie, as a mysterious stranger who joins the off-beat travelling theatre company of the immortal Dr Parnassus (played by Christopher Plummer). However, due to the magical nature of the film's subjects, Gilliam was able to write in shape-shifting abilities for Ledger's character, meaning that his friends Johnny Depp, Colin Farrell and Jude Law could fill in Ledger's missing scenes.
Ledger in his last role
"He was so strong," Gilliam said of the late Aussie actor, who won a posthumous Oscar for his unforgettable role as The Joker in The Dark Knight. "That's why none of it makes sense. The last night before he died we were shooting in Clerkenwell in London, this scene where Dr Parnassus's wagon collapses. The last piece of film of Heath is of him holding on for dear life to the back of a runaway travelling theatre. What a way to go! He was doing everything that night, all his own stunts. You really felt as a director there was nothing he wasn't capable of."
Highly anticipated, not only for its late star but for its epic appeal, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus is due to hit Australian cinemas on October 29th, 2009. Here's the trailer:
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