A fantastic, unreal and a bit fairy-tale world appears before the audience from the TV screen when watching the film “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus”. The actors involved in its creation began working on it in December 2007, and only finished by the end of 2008. During this time, the location of the filming changed several times. However, not geographic indicators became the main difficulty that slowed down the filming process, but the death of one of the main characters.
Thanks to the ingenuity of the crew of the Imaginarium, it came to life again, only now with the participation of new actors.
The result of the common work of a dozen Hollywood stars was the metamorphic painting "The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus."
Actors Castings. Rehearsals
The first actor to find his role was Christopher Plummer. He became the perfect embodiment of Dr. Parnassus. Being a rather peace-loving thousand-year-old sorcerer, he desired to enter into a second agreement 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 accepted a girl with an alien appearance Lily Cole. She fit perfectly into the role of Valentina, the daughter of the millennial leader of the group, which the devil himself was eager to get.
According to the director of the film, at the very beginning of the filming 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 later became a single whole. And the characters began to live their own separate lives.
Lily quickly understood the character of her heroine, so doubts were replaced by constant exclamations: “Stop! Shot! Sumptuously!"
The character of Tony Shepard went to Heath Manager quite easily: he sent Gilliam a note asking him to take him on this role. And she was assigned to him.
Thanks to him, rehearsals became a real creative process, in the course of which all the participants in the shooting were involved. Thanks to his improvisations, the film came to life 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 indicated below:
Tony Shepard: Heath Ledger; three hypostases of the personality of the hero: Johnny Depp, Colin Farrell, Jude Law.
The daughter of the millennial leader of the vagrant circus Valentine: Lily Cole.
Dr. Parnassus: Christopher Plummer.
Bargain Devil Mr. Nick: Tom Waits.
A member of the Imaginarium group in love with Valentine: Andrew Garfield.
We identified the characters who played a decisive role in the outcome of the film's events.
Interesting facts about the film
Some fans of the work of Heath Langer believe that the tragic outcome of his life was destined at the moment when he signed up for the role of Tony. After all, the hero at the beginning of the film is shown hanged. Also, the speech delivered by Johnny Depp is considered a tombstone panegyric by Heath.
It is known that Gilliam personally approved Ledger for the role of Tony. The candidates of Tom Cruise, Hugh Jackman and Christian Bale were rejected.
Heath Ledger introduced an innovation in the process of filming the film - improvisation. It was she who became the central element of the whole picture: half of the dialogues and scenes - impromptu pure water.
The mystery of the death of Heath Ledger - the true face of Tony
Heath Ledger, known for his role as the Joker, passed away under obscure circumstances. His death still causes a lot of controversy in the press.
For example, the actor’s father claims that the reason lies in psychological overstrain. He believes that his son is too immersed in the role of Batman's worst enemy - the Joker.
And Michelle Williams, the widow of Ledger, said that due to a nervous breakdown, the actor inadvertently took incompatible drugs: sleeping pills and antidepressants, which caused death. The same fact became the reason for the appearance of the first official version of the death of the actor - an overdose of drugs.
Heath Ledger passed away in 2008, when the shooting of the film “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus” was in full swing. The actors and creators of the picture being prepared for rental were in shock, because half of the materials were shot, and the second was under development.
The film crew came up with a brilliant idea: the protagonist externally transforms, passing through a magic mirror. The four greatest stars of Hollywood Olympus played the role of Tony in the film "The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus." The actors who brought this character to life are Heath Ledger, Johnny Depp, Colin Farrell and Jude Law.