Heath Ledger's Final Act: Doctor Parnassus Presented at Cannes

by pinstripe | May 23, 2009 at 10:36 am

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Heath Ledger's final performance in the Terry Gilliam-directed The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus is being screened out of competition at the Cannes Film Festival to good reviews. Ledger's role in the fantasy film was only half complete when he passed away from an accidental prescription drug overdose in January of 2008. Ledger, who posthumously received the "Best Supporting Actor" Academy Award for his role in The Dark Knight this past year, by all accounts left an impression on his co-stars with his performance.

Director Terry Gilliam (best known as director of the cult favorite Brazil) nearly scrapped the project after Ledger's death but was able to continue with the held of some substantial star power.

Gilliam said that, when Ledger died with only about half of his performance for "Doctor Parnassus" filmed, his first thought was to scrap the film.

"Fortunately, I was surrounded by really good people who insisted that I couldn't be such a lazy bastard and that we had to go out and find a way of finishing the film for Heath," Gilliam said.

His solution was to cast Johnny Depp, Jude Law and Colin Farrell to play incarnations of Ledger during otherworldly portions of the fantasy film.

"The real credit has got to go to Johnny, Colin and Jude, which was an extraordinary thing, to come in," Gilliam said. "They're all doing other films, they're involved in other projects, and they came to the rescue of this thing.

"They did it solely, basically, for nothing. The money they would have been paid went to Matilda, Heath's daughter. To me, they're the real heroes."