The Imaginarium of Dr. Pranassus
With the death of Heath Ledger and the obvious brilliance of his portrayal of the Joker in Dark Knight there’s been a lot of talk about it being his finest performance ever, his final performance - but that’s not exactly true. The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus was in the midst of filming when Ledger overdosed, and there was worry that it wasn’t going to be finished - Dark Knight was his final COMPLETE performance, but there is more to come. Hollywood was skeptical, to say the best.
That hasn’t changed much, even though some clever rewriting, and the fact that Johnny Depp, Jude Law and Colin Farrell stepped in to help finish the film. They all play Tony, who now changes appearance with each visit to a different dimension. This way, the entire final performance of Heath Ledger is preserved, and the film completed. Hollywood is still skeptical. I think it’ll be fantastic.
The big news, however, is that all three men, Johnny, Jude and Colin, have refused to accept a penny for the work they put into the film. In fact, they decided that their wages be donated to 2 year old Matilda - Heath’s daughter. When Health passed away, his will still stated his parents as beneficiaries, instead of his daughter and her mother. While his parents insist they’ll take good care of them the way Ledger would want, the men decided that this would insure Matilda would be taken care of in the future, no matter what.
In the words of the director, Terry Gilliam: The three actors were totally heroic coming in. [...] It’s extraordinary! I’m so glad these guys are so humble.”
Gilliam continued to say it will be bittersweet to see the finished project, knowing Ledger was filming just days before he died.
It’s just another reason we adore Johnny - like we needed another one! To work selflessly to preserve the work of one, and then take care of his daughter to boot? Would that more men were like Johnny Depp - famous or not.
August 28th, 2008 at 4:38 pm
Awww… That’s just so sweet of these men. Well, especially Johnny of course.
September 6th, 2008 at 3:44 pm
[...] in for Heath Ledgers last movie - He swears it was DeNiro. Uh, no. Collin Ferrel, Jude Law, and my main man Johnny Depp stepped in to not only finish the film, The Imaginarium of Dr. Pranassus, but they donated their [...]