2 September 2009 9:02 AM, PDT | WENN | See recent WENN news »
Tom Cruise offered to help complete Heath Ledger's final film role - but was rejected by director Terry Gilliam because he did not know the late star.
Ledger was filming scenes for The Imaginarium of Dr Parnassus before his death from a prescription drug overdose in January 2008.
Gilliam faced a dilemma of whether to scrap the project or carry on with another actor taking on Ledger's role.
Instead, he signed up three - Johnny Depp, Jude Law and Colin Farrell all agreed to play different versions of Ledger's character Tim in the movie.
Gilliam reveals that Cruise also put his name forward to complete the film - but was turned down because he had not known Ledger when he was alive.
He tells Total Film magazine, "I'm not sure if it was Tom or his agent (who put Cruise forward for the role). I know there was a period when Tom's agents were keen. The thing is, I was only interested in people who were friends of Heath. Simple as that. I wanted to keep it in the family." »
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