TERRY GILLIAM - GILLIAM: 'LEDGER INSPIRED ME TO FINISH FANTASY FILM'

GILLIAM: 'LEDGER INSPIRED ME TO FINISH FANTASY FILM'

TERRY GILLIAM has credited HEATH LEDGER with saving THE IMAGINARIUM OF DOCTOR PARNASSUS, insisting the actor's untimely death pushed him to finish the fantasy film.
Ledger died of an accidental prescription drug overdose in January of 2008 - halfway through shooting the movie.
Director Gilliam was devastated by the tragic news and nearly shut down the set - but his memories of the late actor kept him from abandoning the project.
Instead, Gilliam revised the original script, recruiting actors Johnny Depp, Jude Law and Colin Farrell to fill in Ledger's last role.
He says, "The closing credit says 'By Heath and Friends' because the film changed with his death. He forced me to make changes and we wouldn't have finished it if it wasn't for Heath...
"Fortunately, I was surrounded by really good people who insisted that... we had to go out and find a way of finishing the film for Heath."
And the filmmaker insists Hollywood lost an enormous talent in Ledger, who inspired the entire cast and crew on set.
He adds, "Heath was enjoying himself so much and he was ad-libbing a lot, which I don't normally allow... but Heath was just brilliant at it and he got everybody else going.
"Everybody was just energised by Heath. He was extraordinary. He was almost exhausting because he had so much energy."