Depp poised to finish Heath role
Article from: The Courier Mail
January 25, 2008 01:00pm

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DIRECTOR Terry Gilliam hopes Johnny Depp will step into Heath Ledger's role and allow him to finish the movie that will go down in history as the Aussie hunk's last.

Ledger was less than two months from finishing Gilliam's fantasy film The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus.

And the acclaimed director reportedly now wants Depp to shoot the remaining scenes.

A studio insider told Britain's The Sun newspaper: “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.

“It’s a weird, fantasy, time-travel movie so Heath’s character could easily change appearance. It would be a poignant moment.

“Johnny’s not working at the moment so everyone is praying he will do it.”

The paper adds that Ledger had a blazing row with film bosses just three days before he died after they refused to reshoot a scene he was unhappy with.

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TERRY GILLIAM WANTS DEPP TO TAKE OVER WHERE LEDGER LEFT OFF
Contact Music
25 January 2008

Director TERRY GILLIAM is determined to finish shooting HEATH LEDGER's last film THE IMAGINARIUM OF DOCTOR PARNASSUS and keep Heath's work intact, using JOHNNY DEPP in his place.

Filming on the set of the fantasy movie was allegedly abandoned following the death of the Ledger in his New York apartment on Tuesday afternoon (22Jan08). But reports now claim Gilliam is keen to have the Pirates of the Caribbean star stand in for the tragic Ledger to complete the remaining scenes.

A studio source tells British newspaper The Sun, "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."

"It's a weird, fantasy, time-travel movie so Heath's character could easily change appearance. It would be a poignant moment. "Johnny's not working at the moment so everyone is praying he will do it."

Ledger was said to be less than two months away from wrapping filming on the movie.