Colin Farrell: Stepping into Ledger's Role a Painful Honor
February 21, 2008 12:00am
The Herald Sun


IRISH Hollywood heartthrob Colin Farrell said it was painful, but an honor to be finishing off the film Heath Ledger began before he unexpectedly passed away last month. Ledger was more than half way through completing director Terry Gilliam's The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus.

Yesterday, Farrell currently touring Europe promoting his latest flick In Bruge said he was honoured to have been approached to complete the $45 million Ledger film.

The 28-year-old Aussie heart throb had just completed filming in London with model Lilly Cole, and production was about to move to Vancouver, Canada when he went back to his New York apartment for a week-long break. While trying to rest and recuperate from pneumonia, he accidentally overdosed on a combination of prescription drugs for anxiety, insomnia, and stress.

Farrell said it was a hard decision to agree to complete Ledger's character Tony in the film but one he readily accepted.

Original footage of the Perth-born star will remain and it was unclear how Farrell as well as heart throbs Jude Law and Johnny Depp will fill the role.

"I will be honoured to be part of that," he said yesterday after confirming he had agreed to be part of the project.

"It makes me feel uncomfortable to think about it too much and to get into it really here but it's an incredibly painful honour to have, you know, and an honour I wish wasn't bestowed but an honour none-the-less.

"It's about getting Heath's work out there, get his work out there, he's too good for any of his work not to be seen, you know, and I'm really keen and looking forward to doing it and just doing the best job I can do."

He had not started filming any parts yet and said his role in completing the character was as yet unclear to him.

The film is about a traveling theatre which lets its audiences pass through a magical mirror into another dimension.

It also stars Christopher Plummer, and production has been suspended for more than a month.

The reformed wildman Farrell is touring Europe at the moment promoting his film In Bruge in which he plays a traumatised hit man told to take a holiday after a hit goes bad.

The Irish born actor has also signed on to help promote the special Olympics, a duty he says that enriches his life and one he readily signed on for.

The actor has in the last few years cemented his position as Hollywood's next big thing after a string of hit films including American Outlaws, Hart's War, Minority Report, Alexander and opposite Jamie Foxx in the movie version of Miami Vice.

Ledger's credits include the Oscar nominated film Brokeback Mountain, Casanova, Brother's Grimm, Monsters' Ball and the upcoming Batman film, The Dark Knight.