Gilliam: 'Ending Ledger film was madness'

Terry Gilliam has spoken about the difficulty of finishing The Imaginarium Of Doctor Parnassus without Heath Ledger.

Speaking to ITN, the BAFTA-winning director described the weeks following the January 2008 death of the Australian actor as "madness".

The movie, which stars Ledger, Christopher Plummer and Tom Waits, is about the leader of a travelling theatre troupe which takes audience members through a magical mirror to explore their imaginations.

Production was suspended following Ledger's death, while Johnny Depp, Jude Law and Colin Farrell stepped in to portray his character Tony in dream sequences.

Gilliam said: "It was madness, frankly, trying to rescue a film with Heath dying in the middle of it. But I think the sheer pressure of having to do something made us just go for it. You couldn't double-think anything, you just make some decisions, jump in and hope it worked.

"But shooting it after that point, I was never sure whether it would or wouldn't work. But I can actually say it works and it works brilliantly."