Melbourne, October 29 : Terry Gilliam who was directing Heath Ledger in ‘The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus’ when he died has recalled the actor’s last days on the movie set.

The Brit filmmaker, who earned a standing ovation for the film at the Cannes film festival, revisited memories while shooting with the 28-year-old Australian star before his tragic passing from an accidental prescription drug overdose last year.

"How somebody with that much vitality and strength and just sheer life force suddenly just isn''t there is just a mystery," News. com. au quoted Gilliam as saying.

London, Sep 30 : Brit filmmaker Terry Gilliam has put down speculations that late Aussie actor Heath Ledger had become depressed after his role as The Joker - insisting the tragic star enjoyed the part.

Ledger died from a prescription drug overdose in January 2008 and received a posthumous Oscar for his performance in last year’s (08) Batman movie ‘The Dark Knight’.

And some reports speculated he had gone too far inside the head of the villainous character, leading to a lack of sleep and depression prior to his death.

London, September 21 : Despite hating dance, Johnny Depp couldn’t refuse director Terry Gilliam’s request to shake his legs in new film The ‘Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus’.

"I think Johnny has to do the dancing (in the film) and he hates dancing," the Mirror quoted him as saying on the red carpet at the Toronto International Film Festival.

The ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ star apparently told the helmer that men don’t dance.

Washington, September 8 : Terry Gilliam is relieved that he failed to become the director of the first `Harry Potter' movie, for he would hate to work in a film "factory".

He was author J. K. Rowling's first choice to direct `Harry Potter and the Philosopher''s Stone' in 2000.

However, Warner Bros. studios snubbed him, and decided to go with Chris Columbus.

Gilliam was so infuriated by the then studio bosses' decision that he denounced Columbus'' work as "terrible" and "pedestrian".

Munich  - British director Terry Gilliam,'s latest film "The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus" starring Heath Ledger and Christoph Plummer opens the 27th Filmfest Munich on Friday, setting an international tone for the some 2,000 pictures to be screened.

Gillian gained fame as a member of the Monty Python comedy group. His latest film was overshadowed by the death of Ledger during the

shooting, but the British director was able to fill the gap after actors Johnny Depp, Jude Law, and Colin Farrell filled in for scenes not yet filmed.

Washington, Jan 22 : Film director Terry Gilliam has revealed that actor Benicio Del Toro was `frightening' and `frustrating'' on the set of `Fear & Loathing In Las Vegas'.

The 68-year-old moviemaker feared Del Toro was "out of control" for much of the 1998 movie.

"He gets pretty deep into his character, and sometimes I thought he was out of control. What I found out is he''s frightening," Contactmusic quoted Gilliam as telling Rolling Stone magazine.

"He required a lot of handling, and, after a while, his need to be so intense wore a lot of us out.