Heath Ledger’s ‘Imaginarium’ co-star: ‘the show must go on’

Movie director Terry Gilliam is frantically trying to work out ways in which to keep the tragic actor Heath Ledger alive on film, according to one of Ledger's costars in The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, which Ledger was in the middle of shooting when he died last week.

"Terry's throwing himself into the job of trying to salvage the picture," Christopher said over the weekend.

Despite previous reports that the director might scrap the $30m blockbuster, Gilliam, whom Plummer describes as "terribly saddened" by Ledger’s untimely passing is "trying to work out at this moment how to continue on. Fortunately, because the film deals with magic, there is a way, perhaps, of turning Heath into other people and then, using stills and I think they call it CGI," he told People.com

"Terry was a very good friend [of Heath's]," adds Plummer. "He very wants to go on with the movie, and I can very much understand why. Because he wants to dedicate it to Heath, of course."

The 'Brokeback Mountain' star, 28, and Plummer, 78, left the London portion of the movie's shoot last weekend and were due to continue filming next week in Vancouver. Leaving England, says Plummer, "Heath was in very high spirits. He was just enjoying himself tremendously. It's a rather fanciful script, and he was wonderful in this role."

Confirming earlier reports that Ledger was feeling under-the-weather on set, Plummer says, "we all caught colds because we were shooting outside on horrible, damp nights. But Heath's went on and I don't think he dealt with it immediately with the antibiotics.…I think what he did have was the walking pneumonia."

On top of that, "He was saying all the time, 'dammit, I can't sleep'…and he was taking all these pills [to help him]."

As well as the damp cold and lack of shuteye, Plummer describes the shoot as rigorous. "We had to shoot every second we were out there…there was hardly any time to go into the tent or the car to keep warm. We just kept shooting…boom, boom, boom…there was no pause. It was very, very hard work."

Ledger would have appreciated the show-must-go-on mentality, says his co-star. "He was terribly likable and obviously enormously talented…and the combination was terrific. It's such a shame these things have to happen to the good ones."

As for reports that Gilliam has approached 'Pirates of The Caribbean' star Johnny Depp to step replace Ledger in the film, after an insider previously said: “There is a point in the film when Heath falls through a magic mirror. He could change into another character after that and that is where Johnny would come in,"  the the actor's rep did not immediately return calls for comment.

By Owen Williams, Jan 28 2008 © Copyright 2008 - Showbiz Spy