"The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus": the actors and the film crew barely recovered after Ledger's death

Fantastic, unreal and a little fairy world appears before the audience from the TV screen while watching the movie "The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus." Actors involved in its creation, began work on it in December 2007, and finished only by the end of 2008. During this time, the location of the shooting repeatedly changed. However, it was not the geographical indices that became the main difficulty that slowed down the shooting process, but the death of one of the main characters.

Thanks to the sharpness of the film crew, "Imaginarium" revived, only now with the participation of new actors.

The result of the general works of a dozen Hollywood stars was the metamorphic picture "The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus."

Actors. Castings. Rehearsals

The first actor to find his role was Christopher Plummer. He became the perfect embodiment of Dr. Parnassus. Being a fairly peace-loving millennial magician, he desired to conclude a second contract with the devil himself.

The role of Mr. Nick (the devil) went to the charismatic Tom Waits.

Actors of the film "The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus" also took in their ranks a girl with extraterrestrial appearance Lily Cole. She perfectly fit into the role of Valentina, the daughter of the millennial leader of the group, which the devil himself craved for.

According to the director's admission, at the very beginning of the shooting process he sincerely regretted his choice: Lily Cole was too inexperienced for the large-scale film "The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus."

The actors and roles assigned to them subsequently became one. And the characters began to live their own separate lives.

Lily quickly realized the nature of her character, so doubts were replaced by constant exclamations: "Stop! Taken off! Sumptuously!"

The character of Tony Shepard went to Heath Ledger quite easily: he sent a note to Gilliam asking him to take him for this role. And she was assigned to him.

It was thanks to him that rehearsals became a real creative process, in the course of which all the participants of the shooting were involved. Thanks to his improvisations, the film revived right before our eyes.

Main characters

It is known that one of the hypostases of the protagonist Tony was played by none other than Johnny Depp (The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus).

Actors, or rather their names and characters, will be briefly outlined below:

Tony Shepard: Heath Ledger; Three person personality roles: Johnny Depp, Colin Farrell, Jude Law.

The daughter of the millennial leader of the wandering circus Valentine: Lily Cole.

Dr. Parnassus: Christopher Plummer.

The devil who made the deal, Mr. Nick: Tom Waits.

Member of the group of the Imaginarium, in love with Valentine: Andrew Garfield.

We identified characters who played a decisive role in the outcome of the film.

Interesting facts about the film

Some fans of creativity Heath Lenger believe that the tragic outcome of his life was predetermined at the time when he signed for the role of Tony. After all, the hero at the beginning of the film is shown hanged. Also, the speech, spoken by Johnny Depp, is considered a funeral panegyric for Hit.

It is known that Gilliam personally approved Ledger for the role of Tony. The nominations of Tom Cruise, Hugh Jackman and Christian Bale were rejected.

Heath Ledger introduced an innovation in the process of shooting a film - improvisation. It was she who became the central element of the whole picture: half of dialogues and scenes - an impromptu of pure water.

The mystery of the death of Heath Ledger - the true face of Tony

Heath Ledger, known for his role as a Joker, passed away under unclear circumstances. His death still causes a lot of controversy in the press.

For example, the father of the actor claims that the reason lies in the psychological overstrain. He believes that his son is too immersed in the role of the worst enemy of Batman - the Joker.

And Michelle Williams, Ledger's widow, said that because of the nervous breakdown, the actor, through carelessness, took medications that were not combining: sleeping pills and antidepressants, which was the cause of death. The same fact was the reason for the appearance of the first official version of the actor's death - an overdose of drugs.

Heath Ledger passed away in 2008, when the film "The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus" was in full swing. Actors and creators of the picture prepared for the rental were in shock, because half of the materials were filmed, and the second was at the development stage.

A brilliant idea came to the film crew: the main character is transformed outwardly, passing through a magic mirror. The four greatest Hollywood stars in Olympus played the part of Tony in the film The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus. The actors who embodied this character are Heath Ledger, Johnny Depp, Colin Farrell and Jude Law.