Gilliam Said No to Cruise for 'Doctor Parnassus'

I don't know about you, but I would have had a hard time taking this seriously: Tom Cruise wanted to be one of the actors stepping in for Heath Ledger in Terry Gilliam's The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, which we recently reported will now open in the US on December 25th. Gilliam passed. Thankfully.

The trio of Jude Law, Colin Farrell, and Johnny Depp actually fulfilled Ledger's obligation, stepping to basically salvage Gilliam's film. That's a very important breakthrough for Gilliam, who tends to do his own thing but hasn't rolled a lot of sevens in the past decade with his film projects. Had another one washed ashore, that could have been really bad. However, Gilliam remained as true as he could to Parnassus and Ledger's memory, and turned down Cruise's offer. "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 director tells Total Film (via Contact Music). He adds, "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." Not having seen the film, of course, it's impossible to say whether or not Cruise would have been a good fit. However, having seen Cruise when he's really trying to act, it's a hard thing to lose yourself in. You can definitely see the mechanism when Tom gets more serious. I don't think that would have fit Gilliam's Faust story at all.

Comments

[Lengthy Johnson]

Passing on Cruise was the right thing to do.

Personally, I belive that Cruise is a better actor than his reputation has him but he would have stood out like a sore thumb in this kind of production.

[SEAN]

I 100% agree with Lengthy Johnson

Tom would have stood out but I personally would like to see the movie then make a final decision....

Because I too believe Cruise is quite underrated for him being you know the TOM CRUISE...I think he's much better than people often give him credit for...

But I do agree in some films you can kinda see the wheels turning with Cruise which is his biggest problem